8wS 




MEMOIR., 

HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL 

OF THE 

NORTHWEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA, 

A No THE 



ADJACENT TERRITORIES: 




BLAIR AND Rl YES, PRINTERS. 
I.840, 



* / 

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



GEOGRAPHY OP THE WESTERN SECTION OF NORTH AMERICA. 

Page. 

Introduction - - - - . - ^ - - -1 

Great natural divisions of the western section of North America - - 1 

Political divisions - - - - - - - - 2 

Claims of Great Britain, Russia, the United States, and Mexico 2 
General view of the whole coast - -- -- -- -3 

Description of the northernmost territories of the western section - - - 4 

Description of the southern portion, or California ------ 9 

Generai view of the mountain-ridges of the western section - - - 11 
Particular description of Oregon, or the country drained by the Columbia - 12 
First region of Oregon, or low country - ••-■•■»-- 11 
Second region, or middle country - -- -- -.-16 

Third region, or upper country - - - - - - -17 

The Columbia and its branches .»---_-. jg 



MEMOIR, HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL, ON THE NORTHWEST COAST OF 
NORTH AMERICA, AND THE ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 

Year. ' Page. 

1493. America discovered, and supposed to be connected with Asia - - 21 

1495. Treaty of Partition between Spain and Portugal - - - - - 21 

1499. • First voyage from Europe to India, by Gama, around Alrica - - - 22 

1500. Discovery of the Strait of Anian Cpr ibably Hudson's Strait) by Cortereal - 39 
1513. Discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Balboa - - - - - 22 

1517. Discovery of Mexico by Grijalva - - - - - - -22 

1520. Voyage of Magellan from Europe to India, westward across the Pacific - 22 
1523. Conquest of Mexico completed by Cortes, who explores the adjacent coasts in 

search of rich countries and passages for ships between the Atlantic and the 

Pacific - - - - - - - - - - 23 

1532. Voyages of Hurtado Mendoza, Grijalva, and Becerra in the north Pacific, by 

? order of Cortes - • - - . - - - - - -'24 

1534. Becerra discovers the southern extremity of California - - - - 24 

1535. Voyage of Cortes in the Gulf of California - - - - - 25 

1536. Cabeza Vaca completes his journey across the continent, from Florida to the 

Californian Gulf --------- 27 

i539. Voyage of Ulloa, who discovers the west coast of California to the 30th degree 

of latitude- - ' - - - - - - - 26 

Journey of Friar Marcos de Niza, who pretends to have discovered a rich 

country, called Cibola, northwest of Mexico - - - - - 28 

1540- ! 3. Expeditions of Alarcon and Coronado in search of Cibola - - 29 
Voyage of Cabrillo and Ferrelo, who discover the west coast to the 43d degree 

of latitude- 30 
Expedition of Villalobos from Mexico to India, and discovery of the Philippine 

Islands - - - - - - . _ - 32 

1547. Death of Cortes - - - . . . . -28 

1564. Expedition of Legaspi from Mexico to India ; conquest of the Philippine Islands, 
and discovery of the mode of navigating the Pacific from west to east, by Ur- 

dauete - .. - - - - - - - - 32 

Establishment of the Spanish trade between America and India - 33 
Prohibitory measures of the Spaniards against the trade or settlement of other 

nations in America - 31 
1578 '80. Voyage of Francis Drake, who visits the northwest coast - - 36, 201 
1580. Voyage of Gali from China to Mexico, in which he sails along the northwest 

coast • ■ [ - ■ - - , ' - - - - - - 33 

1587. Voyage of Cavendish around the world - 37 



7. Attempts of the 

the Pacific Oceans, "causn^.^ . ,. efie 

88. Pretended northern voyage of Msfetffonaxfo from the Atlantic to me _ 
)2. Voyage of Juan de Fuca along the northwest coast 
j94. Voyage of Cermenon, who is wrecked on the Bay of San Francisco 

Spanish Government orders colonies to be established in California - - ^ 
1596. Voyage of Vizcaino in the Gulf of California - - - - - 44 

1602. Survey of the west coast to the 43d degree of latitude by Vizcaino - - 44 

1603. Supposed discovery of a great river, near the 43d degree, by Aguilar, in one of 

Vizcaino's vessels - -- -- -- .4$ 

1610. Discovery of Hudson's Bay by Hudson - - - - -47 

1616. Discovery of the navigation around Cape Horn, by Lemaire and Van Schouten 47 
1640. Supposed northern voyage of Fonte from the Pacific to the Atlantic - 41 
1643. Voyage of De Vries in the Pacific, north of Japan - - - - 58 

1669. Charter given to the Hudson's Bay Company by King Charles II. of England - 75 

Unsuccessful attempts of the Spaniards to plant colonies in California - 48 
1697. The Jesuits undertake the reduction of California for the King of Spain - 48 

The Russians conquer Kamschatka - - - - - - 58 

1700. Father Kuhn, a Jesuit, ascertains that California is connected with the Amer- 
ican continent - -- -- -- --59 

1711. Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, forms plans for exploring the seas east of Kam- 

schatka, and for extending his dominion to America - 150 

1712. Louis XIV., King of France, grants Louisiana to Crozat - ' - 150 
Supposed extent of Louisiana at that time - - - - 150 

1714. Treaty of Utrecht between Great Britain and France, no boundary-line estab- 
lished in America agreeably to its provisions - - - - 150, 216 

1728. Voyage of Beering, by order of the Empress Catherine of Russia, from Kam- 
schatka into the Arctic Sea - -- ----59 

The sea east of Kamschatka ascertained to be a part of the Pacific - - 60 

1741. Voyage of Beering and Tschirikof to America - - - - - 60 
Beering discovers the American continent near Mount Saint Elias " 61 
Beering is wrecked on one of the Aleutian Islands, where he dies - - 63 
Tschirikof discovers America near the 56th degree of latitude, and returns to 

Kamschatka . - - - - - - - - 63 

1742. The survivors of Beering's crew return to Kamschatka, and begin the fur trade 

between that country and the islands eastward of it - - - - 64 

1762. France cedes Louisiana to Spain -------75 

1763. France cedes Canada to England ------- 149 

General peace ; British and French voyages of discovery - - 51 

1766. Voyage of Synd - -- -- -- --66 

1766-'8. Journey of Carver through the country west of Lake Superior - - 76 

1768. Voyage of Krenitzin and Levashef from Kamschatka - - - - 66 
Expulsion of the Jesuits from America - - - - - - 50 

1769. Establishment of the first colonies on the west eoast of North America by the 

Spaniards ----------52 

1769-'72. Journeys of Hearne, west and northwest from Hudson's Bay, to the Arctic Sea 75 

1770. Dispute between Great Britain and Spain about the Falkland Islands - - 54 

1771. First voyage from Kamschatka to China, by a party of Polish exiles, under 

Count Benyowsky - - - - - - -66 

1774. Voyage of the Spaniards, under Perez, along the northwest coast to the 53d de- 

gree of latitude --------- 69- 

1775. Voyage of the Spaniards, under Heceta, Bodega, and Maurelle, to the 58th de- 

gree of latitude ---------70 

Heceta discovers the mouth of a river, named by him San Roque, now called 
the Columbia .-.------72 

1776. Captain Cook sails from England for the Pacific, in search of a northern pas- 

sage from that sea to the Atlantic - - - - - - 78 

1778. Cook examines the northwest coast of America to the 70th degree - - 79 

1779. Death of Cook and of his successor Clerke - - - - - 83 
The English, under Gore, on their way to England, carry to Canton the first 

furs which entered that place by sea - - - - - - 83 

Voyage of the Spaniards under Arteaga, Bodega, and Maurelle, to Prince Wil- 
liam's Sound - - - - - - - -84 

1783. Association of merchants in Siberia for carrying on the fur trade - - 88 
Expedition under Shellikof, who establishes settlements on the Island of Kodiak 88 

1784. Publication of the Journals of Cook's Voyage - - - - - 86 
Preparations begun in many countries for carrying on the fur trade between 

Northwest America and China - - - - - - -87 




«acwant Saint Elias to Monterey 
^.<ffc-fbtra±i' ka^^^jT - - - - - , 

t> of Portlock and Dixon - - - - - - 1 

Sept. ^0. The ship Columbia, Capt. Kendrick, and sloop Washington, Captain 

Gray, sail together from Boston for the north Pacific - - t 
Formation of the Northwest Fur-trading Company of Montreal - - 139 

1788. Captains Kendrick and Gray arrive at Nootka, where they spend the following 

winter - ..----.--90 
Voyages of Meares and Douglas from Macao to the northwest coast - - 100 
Meares attempts to find the River San Roque, and pronounces that none such 

exists 93 
Voyage of the Spaniards, under Martinez and Haro, to observe the progress of 

the Russians on the north Pacific coasts - - - - - 96 
Attempt of Ledyard to pass, through Russia and America, from Paris to the 

United States 91 

1789. Martinez and Haro sent by the Viceroy of Mexico to occupy Nootka - 97 
Complaints addressed by the Spanish Government to that of Russia against the 

encroachments of Russians in America - - - - 97 

The Spaniards occupy Nootka, and seize vessels which are said to be the prop- 
erty of British subjects ------- 104, 212 

Captain Gray first sails around Glueen Charlotte's Island, to which he gives the 

name of Washington Island - 92 
The Spaniards quit Nootka ; which they, however, reoecupy in the following 
spring, under the command of Elisa - * - • - »• - ' . 117 
1790/ The owners of the vessels seized at Nootka complain to the British Government, 

which demands satisfaction from that of Spain - - - - - lit 

The King of Spain asks aid from Louis XVI. of France to resist the demand, 

which is refused by the National Assembly of France - 113 
Spain promises satisfaction to Great Britain ----- 114 

Oct. 28. A convention is sjgned between those Powers, respecting the naviga- 
tion of thePacific and the right of occupying its vacant American coasts - 114 
Remarks made on that convention in the British Parliament - - - 1 15 
The Spaniards from Nootka endeavor to explore the northwest coasts - - 118 
Voyages of Fidalgo and Gtuimper ------- 118 

Voyage of the Russians, under Billings, from Kamschatka ... 122 
Observations on the nature and duration of the engagements entered into be- 
tween Great Britain and Spain by the convention of October 28 - - 171 

1791. Captain Vancouver sent from England with two ships to explore the northwest 

coasts of America, and as commissioner to receive the lands and buildings at 

Nootka, to be restored by the Spaniards according to the convention of 1790 118 
Voyages of the Spaniards under Malaspina and Elisa - 118 
Voyage of Marchand in the French ship Solide ----- 119 
Seven vessels arrive from the United States in the north Pacific, to be employed 

in the fur trade - ------- 119 

Captain Ingraham, in the Hope, from Boston, discovers the Washington Islands 119 
Captain Gray, in the Columbia, from Boston, discovers the mouth of the great 

river seen by Heceta in 1775, but cannot enter it 120 
Captain Kendrick, in the Washington, from Boston, discovers a new passage 

from Nootka Sound to the sea, and purchases lands near Nootka from the 

savages - - - - - - - - - 121 

He commences the trade in sandal-wood ------ 122 

Unsuccessful voyage of the Russians from Kamschatka, under Hall and Sarets- 

chef 122 

1792. Voyages of the Spaniards under Caamano, and Galiano and Valdes - - 122 
The Spaniards endeavor, unsuccessfully, to establish a new settlement on the 

Strait of Fuca --------- 123 

Glueen Charlotte's, or Washington Island, explored and frequented by the 
American fur-traders - - - - - - - 92, 123 

Captain Gtuadra arrives at Nootka as commissioner on the part of Spain to exe- 
cute the convention of 1790 ------- 132 

Vancouver arrives on the American coast, near Cape Mendocino - - 123 
He examines the eoast northward to the Strait of Fuca, and pronounces that 
there is no large river or inlet there ------ 125 

Gray, in the Columbia, on his way to examine the river which he had found in 
the preceding year, meets Vancouver near the Strait of Fuca, and informs him 
of the discovery, which Vancouver doubts - - - - - 125 

Gray discovers Bulfinch's Harbor, and enters the great river, (May 11,) which he 
names after his ship, the Columbia ------ 128 



^aci nations on tm& oa*. 
Vancouver surveys the Strait ui : 

sels Suiil and Mexicana, under .Gan^u acra Valdes 
Observations on the Journal of the Voyage of the Sutil and Mexican 
Vancouver and Quadra meet at Nootka - - - - 

Letter addressed to Quadra by Gray and Ingraham, (August 3.) detailing the 

occurrences at Nootka in the summer of 1769 132 212 

Vancouver's false synopsis of that letter - - - - - . ' 134 

Negotiations between Vancouver and Quadra, as related by Howel - - 134 

The commissioners agree to wait for orders from their Governments - - 134 

Quadra communicates accounts and charts of Gray's discoveries to Vancouver 135 

Survey of Bulfmch's Harbor by Vancouver's lieutenant, Whidbey - - ."35 
Survey of the Columbia by Lieutenant Broughton, who attempts to appropriate 

to himself the merit of first entering the great river - 136 

Vancouver winters at the Sandwich Islands; his proceedinss there - - 137 
Expedition of Rodman and a party of Americans from the mouth of the Missouri 

across the continent, to the Pacific 140 

1793. Vancouver surveys the northwest Archipelago ----- 137 
He winters at the Sandwich Islands, the sovereignty of one of which is ceded to 

Great Britain by Tamahamaha - - - - - - - 138 

Death of Quadra' - - - - - - - 138 

Alava appointed Spanish commissioner in place of Quadra - 138 
Expeditions of Mackenzie across the continent to the Pacific, which he reaches 

near the 53d degree of latitude ------- 140 

1794. Vancouver completes his surveys of the northwest coast, and sails for England 141 

1795. The Spaniards abandon Nootka ------- 141 

1796. Broughton arrives as British commissioner at Nootka, which he finds occupied 

only by the savages -------- 141 

Spain declares war against Great Britain ------ 143 

1797. Death of Vancouver, and publication of his Journals - - - - 139 
Observations on his Journals. - - **- - - " - 139 
Whole of the direct trade in furs from the northwest coast to China carried on 

by Americans, from 1796 to 1814 - - 143 
Formation of the Russian- American Company, which receives a charter {4799) 

from the Emperor Paul - - - - - - -T ' - 145 

1800. Foundation of Sitca, or New Archangel, by the Russians, under Baranof - 145 

Louisiana ceded by Spain to France, which (1803) cedes it to the United States 149 

Observations on the extent of Louisiana ------ 150 

1803. Voyage of Krusenstern and Lisiansky from St. Petersburgh to the north Pacific 146 
Des: ruction of the ^hip Boston, of Boston, by the savages at Nootka Sound - 142 

1804. Lewis and Clarke begin their expedition across the continent - 152 

1805. They reach the mouth of the Columbia ------ 152 

1806. And return to the United States - - - - - - 153 

Frazer. and others in the employ of the Northwest Trading Company, cross the 

Rocky Mountains, and form the first British establishment in that part of 

America on Frazer's Lake ------- 155 

Krusenstern and Lisiansky complete their voyage of circumnavigation - - 147 

1807. Convention signed at London between the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and 

the United States, for the settlement of boundaries in America, but not con- 
cluded - - - - - - - - 154 

1808. Missouri Fur Company at Saint Louis ------ 156 

Henry establishes a trading post on the Lewis River - 156 
Russian Government complains to that of the United States of the misconduct of 

American fur -traders in supplying the natives on the northwest coasts with 

arms - - - - - - - - - - 147 

Negotiations on that subject ineffectual ------ 148 

1810. Formation of the Pacific Fur Company at New York, by J. J. Astor - - 156 
Parties sent by sea from New York, and by land from Saint Louis, to establish 

factories on the Columbia 157 

1811. Foundation of Astoria, near the month of that river - - - - 157 
Adventurous journey of the land party under Hunt - 158 
Destruction of the ship Tonquin, which had carried out the other party, and her 

crew, by the savages near Nootka 158 

1812. War declared by the United S'ates against Great Britain - - - 158 
The Russians establish themselves in California near Port San Francisco - 14S 

1813. Property of ihe Americans on the Columbia sold to the Northwest Company - 160 
Astoria'taken bv a British ship of w ar. and its name changed to Fort George - 161 

1814. Peace of Ghent between Great Britain and the United States - - - 163 



restitution of Astoria - - 

.i .aipi' un. tjcaw^^lt*tarie^ptrSSession of one of the Sandwich \ 

L v .&.>Sj s. Prevost and Biddle sent in the ship Ontario to take possession of Astoria, 1 b 

Discussions on the subject between the British and American Governments - 16 

1818. Astoria restored formally by the British authorities to those of the United States 165 
Negotiation between Great Britain and the United States - 168 
Negotiation ended by the convention of October, 1818 - - - 169, 219 
Negotiation between the United States and Spain, terminated by the Florida 

Treaty, (February, 1819,) in which the 42d parallel of latitude is made the 
boundary between the territories of the two Powers west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains - - - - 170, 219 

1819. Charter of the Russian- American Company renewed for twenty years - - 176 

1820. Florida Treaty ratified -------- 173 

1821. Mexico becomes independent of Spain - - - - - 173 
Coalition of the Northwest and the Hudson's Bay Companies - 175 
Act of British Parliament for regulating the fur trade, and establishing a crimi- 
nal and civil jurisdiction in the Indian territories, which are granted to the 
Hudson's Bay Company - - - - - 175 

Ukase of the Russian Emperor, claiming all the west coasts of America north of 

the 51st parallel --------- 176 

1822. Discussions between the Russian and the American Governments on this subject 176 

1823. Propositions made on the part of the United States for a joint convention respect- 

ing Northwest America, between the United States, Great Britain, and Russia 177 

Propositions for a joint convention declined by the other Powers - - 178 

Proceedings in the Congress of the United Slates - - 173. 178, 179 

.1824. Negotiation between the United Stales and Great Britain broken off - - 179 

Negotiation between the United States and Russia terminated by a convention, 
fixing the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes as the limit between the parts of 
the coast on which either Power could form establishments - 180, 220 

1825. Convention of a similar nature between Great , Britain and Russia - 181,221 
Revival of the fur trade between Saini Louis and the Columbia countries - 195 

1826. Renewal of negotiation at London between the British and American Govern- 
-ments - - ... - - - - - 183 

1827. Con vention prolonging for an indefinite period the third article of the convention 

of October, 1818 185, 223 

Observations on the pretensions advanced by the parties in this negotiation - 185 
1829. First trading expedition from Missouri to the Rocky Mountains in which wag- 
ons were employed - 195 
Debates in Congress with respect to the occupation of Oregon - 188 
1834-'38. Negotiations between the Governments of the United States and Russia, respect- 
ing the renewal of the 4th article of the convention of 1825 - - - 189 
Hudson's Bay Company's expedition to take possession of the River Stikine ren- 
dered fruitless by the Russians ------- 190 

Particular account of the Hudson's Bay Company's system and establishments - 192 

Captain Bonneville's trading expedition from Missouri to the Columbia - 196 

Captain Wyeth's attempts to form American trading establishments beyond the 

Rocky Mountains - - - - - - - - 196 

Establishment of American colonies on the river Wallamet - 198 
Reflections on the fur trade in America, and on the future destinies of the coun- 
tries beyond the Rocky Mountains - - - - - - 199 



APPENDIX. 

A. — Respecting the part of the northwest coast seen by Drake in 1579 - 201 

B. — Respecting the pretended northern voyage of Maldonado from the Atlantic to the 

Pacific in 1588 205 

C— Account of the voyage of Juan de Fuca in the north Pacific in 1592, extracted from 

Purchas's Pilgrims --------- 207 

D. — Correspondence at Nootka in 1792, between the Spanish commissioner GLuadra, and 

Messrs. Gray and Ingraham, the commanders of two American vessels, respecting 

the occurrences at that place in 1789 212 

E. — Showing that the 49th parallel of latitude was probably??,^ adopted as the line of sep- 

aration between the British and French territories in America, agreeably to the 
treaty of Utrecht in 1714 - 216 

F. — Containing extracts and copies of treaties between various nations respecting the 

northwest coast of America - - - - - - - 219 



ERRATA. 



Since the following pages were printed, the author has discovered two errors, which, though 
not bearing upon any important question, he regrets, and is anxious to correct; particularly as 
the misstatements are injurious to the memory of Captain Cook, one of the noblest men whom 
any age or country has produced. 

In order to correct these errors, 

1. Substitute for the two last sentences of the second paragraph, in page 48, the following: 
SThe Cape Blanco, mentioned as the northern limit of Aguilar's progress along the coast, is 
probably the same on which Vancouver, in 1792, bestowed the name of Cape Orford. 

2. Expunge the last sentence but one of the third paragraph in page 79, containing the 
words — "In this part of his voyage he recognised the Cape Blanco of Aguilar, near the 43d 
parallel, but he thought proper to bestow on it the name of Cape Gregory." 



GEOGRAPHY 



OF THE 

WESTERN SECTION OF NORTH AMERICA, 



INTRODUCTION. 

I. The northwest coast is the expression usually employed in the Uni- 
ted States, at the present time, to distinguish the vast portion of the 
American continent, which extends north of the 40th parallel of latitude 
from the Pacific to the great dividing ridge of the Rocky Mountains, to- 
gether with the contiguous islands in that ocean. The southern part of 
this territory, which is drained almost entirely by the River Columbia, 
is commonly called Oregon, from the supposition (no doubt erroneous) 
that such was the name applied to its principal stream by the aborigines. 
To the more northern parts of the continent many appellations, which 
will hereafter be mentioned, have been assigned by navigators and fur- 
traders of various nations. The territory bordering upon the Pacific 
southward, from the 40th parallel to the extremity of the peninsula 
which stretches in that direction as far as the Tropic of Cancer, is called 
California; a name of uncertain derivation, formerly applied by the Span- 
iards to the whole western section of North America, as that of Florida 
was employed by them to designate the regions bordering upon the At- 
lantic. The northwest- coast and the west coast of California, together, 
form the west coast of North America; as it has been found impossible to 
separate the history of these two portions, so it will be necessary to in- 
clude them both in this geographical view.* 

In order to show that the fortieth parallel of latitude is not assumed ar- 
bitrarily, and without adequate grounds, as the southern limit of the 
northwest coast, it would be sufficient to cite the fact, that this line 
crosses the American continent exactly midway between its most north- 
ern and its most southern points ; but there are physical reasons for the 
assumption, no less strong than those based on such geometrical consid- 
erations. Almost immediately under the said parallel the coast makes an 



* In the following pages, the term coast will be used, sometimes as signifying only the sea- 
shore, and sometimes as embracing the whole territory, extending therefrom to the sources of 
the river ; care has been, however, taken to prevent misapprehension, where the context does 
not sufficiently indicate the true sense. In order to avoid repetitions, the northwest coast will be 
understood to be the northwest coast of North America; all latitudes will be taken as north latU 
tudes, and all longitudes as west from Greenwich, unless otherwise expressed. 



;le at a point called Cap* . o^, N /.x)i vhi^t. or±^ 
rth for a great distance, while the other takes a southeas 
ioreover, this cape is the western extremity of a ridge of lofty moan- 
jiins, extending continuously from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, 
nearly in the course of the 40th parallel, and completely dividing the 
region of which the waters flow southward from that drained by streams 
entering the Pacific north of the cape. This transverse ridge, generally 
called the Snowy Mountains, appears, indeed, to be the boundary indi- 
cated by nature between California, on the south, and Oregon, or the 
country of the Columbia, on the north ; not only does it serve as a bar- 
rier of separation almost impassable, but the differences in climate and 
productions between the territories on either side of it are much greater 
than could have been supposed, considering merely their respective dis- 
tances from the equator. California is essentially a southern country, 
while Oregon exhibits the peculiarities of the north. 

The coasts of this section of America have been carefully surveyed 
by distinguished scientific navigators, and they may be found accurately 
delineated on charts ; with regard to the interior, however, little exact 
geographical information has been yet obtained. From all that can be 
learned respecting the continent north of the 58th parallel, it is a waste 
of rocky snow-clad mountains, incapable of sustaining a population, and, 
indeed, almost impenetrable. Of California, or the country south of the 
40th parallel, no accounts are to be procured, except as to the portion im- 
mediately contiguous to the sea. It is only of the territory included be- 
tween these two lines of latitude, which is drained principally by the 
great River Columbia, that we can speak with any confidence; even of 
this territory, all descriptions must be conveyed in general and qualified 
terms, and much remains to be done in it by the astronomer before our 
maps can present any other than very imperfect representations of its 
surface. 

In the following geographical sketch, an attempt will be made to com- 
bine the results of information and inquiry, relative to the western sec- 
tion of North America, in such a manner as to produce distinct impres- 
sions of its most prominent and characteristic features, adding only those 
details which may be requisite or useful in order to illustrate the state- 
ments and views contained in the political and historical memoir. In 
so doing, it has been found convenient to adopt the territorial divisions 
indicated by nature, rather than those which have been agreed on be- 
tween the Governments of various distant nations. The boundaries set- 
tled by these conventions will, however, be first described, and general 
ideas of the political questions at issue, with regard to this part of the 
world, will thus be easily communicated. 

POLITICAL DIVISION OP THE WESTERN SECTION OP NORTH AMERICA. 

II. By the Florida treaty, concluded in 1819 between the United States 
and Spain, a line drawn along the 42d parallel of latitude, from the 
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, was fixed as the northern limit of the 
Spanish territory and the southern limit of that of the United States in 
western America. By a subsequent treaty between the latter Power and 
Mexico, the same line was admitted to separate the possessions of the 
two republics, Mexico taking the place of Spain. The Mexicans, accord- 



cv, y it ao parallel ; but the Rus- 

A y bar the exercise of any Mexican authority beyond the\ 
fmA Francisco, near the 38th degree, by means of their colonies 
and garrisons in that quarter, established in 1812, and, ever since main- 
tained in defiance alike of Spain and of her republican successors. 

By the convention of 1824, between the United States and Russia, it 
was agreed that the Russians should make no settlements on the west 
coasts of North America, or the adjacent islands, south of the latitude of 
54 degrees 40 minutes, and the United States should establish none 
north of that parallel. 

By the convention of 1825, between Russia and Great Britain, it was 
in like manner stipulated that the British should occupy no place on the 
coasts or islands north of 54 degrees and 40 minutes, and that the Rus- 
sians should make no settlement south of the same latitude ; it was, more- 
over, agreed that a line drawn from that parallel northward, along the 
summits of the mountains, within 20 miles of the sea, to its intersec- 
tion with the 141st meridian of longitude west from Greenwich, (passing 
through Mount Saint Elias,) and thence, along that meridian, to the Arc- 
tic Sea, should be the "limit between the Russian and British posses- 
sions on the continent of America to the northwest." 

Thus two lines of boundary appear on the map of Northwest America, 
running completely across it: one northward, from the latitude of 54 de- 
grees 40 minutes, to the Arctic sea, as settled between Great Britain and 
Russia; and the other following the course of the 42d parallel, from the 
Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, as agreed on between the United States 
and Mexico. Of the intermediate region, no part has been as yet defini- 
tively assigned by convention to any one nation ; the Americans claim 
the portion north from the 42d parallel, and the British claim that south 
from the other line of boundary — each party to an extent undefined, but 
so far as to secure for itself the large and valuable country drained by the 
Columbia River. These nations have provisionally compromised their 
pretensions by an arrangement, made in 1818, and continued in 1827 for 
an unlimited period, to the effect, that any territory in that section of 
America, claimed by either, should be equally free and open for naviga- 
tion, trade, and settlement, to the citizens or subjects of both ; the Gov- 
ernment of each being at liberty to abrogate the arrangement, after giv- 
ing due notice of twelve months to that of the other.* 

III. The political questions at issue between the Governments of Great 
Britain, the United States, Russia, and Mexico having been summarily 
stated, we will now present a — 

VIEW OF THE WESTERN SECTION OF NORTH AMERICA, ACCORDING TO ITS 

NATURAL DIVISIONS. 

The northern extremity of the west coast of America is Cape Prince of 
Wales, in latitude of 65 degrees 52 minutes, which is also the western- 
most spot in the whole continent ; it is situated on the eastern side of 



* The Russian settlements in America are under the control of the Russian- American Com- 
pany, of which a particular account will be found at page 143 of the memoir. For notices of 
the Hudson's Bay Company, to which belong all the British establishments west of the Rocky 
Mountains, see pages 75 and 192 ; and, for copies of the treaties, see Appendix [F.J 



o ring's Strait, a chaiiix^ 
ic with the Arctic (or Icy, or l\o?*i/, 

de of which strait, opposite Cape Prince of Wales, is hia^ 
istern extremity of Asia. Beyond Beering's Strait the shores c_ 
vvo continents recede from each other. The north coast of America has 
been traced from Cape Prince of Wales northeastward, to Cape Bar- 
row, in latitude of 71 degrees 23 minutes, which is probably the north- 
ernmost point of America, and thence eastward for more than a thou- 
sand miles, though not continuously to the Atlantic ; no vessel has, how- 
ever, yet proceeded beyond Beering's Strait as far as Cape Barrow. 

The southernmost point of the west coast of North America is Cape 
San Lucas, in latitude of 22 degrees 52 minutes, the extremity of the 
great Peninsula of California, which stretches from the American con- 
tinent on the Pacific side, nearly in the same direction, and between 
nearly the same parallels of latitude as that of Florida on the Atlantic. 
The Californian peninsula joins the main land under the 33d parallel ; 
south of which, it is separated from Mexico, on the east, by the long 
arm of the ocean called by the Spaniards the Vermillion Sea and the Sea 
of Cortes, but more generally known as the Gulf of California. 

The coast extending between these two capes is not less than four 
thousand miles in length, and is bordered by a continuous line of moun- 
tains, which in most places overhang the sea, and are nowhere distant 
from it more than eighty miles. From Cape San Lucas the general di- 
rection of the shores is northwest as far as Cape Mendocino, near the 
40th degree of latitude ; thence it runs almost due north to Cape Flat- 
tery, at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca, near the 48th degree, where 
it makes an angle by turning to the east. South of Cape Flattery the 
coast is comparatively regular and free from great sinuosities, and there 
are only a few islands, all of which are small, in its vicinity ; northward 
of that point, to Cape Spenser near the 58th degree, it is, on the contrary, 
indented by numerous bays and inlets penetrating the land, and it is 
completely masked by islands separated from each other and from the 
continent by narrow and intricate channels. These islands compose the 
Northwest Archipelago ; they lie together in a recess of the continental 
coast between Cape Flattery and Cape Spenser, in length about seven 
hundred miles, and in breadth about one hundred and twenty ; and they 
are, indeed, simply a continuation, through the sea, of the mountain- 
chain which forms the westernmost rampart of America. Beyond Cape 
Spenser the American coast makes a bend, running northwest to the 
foot of Mount Saint Elias, the loftiest peak on the continent, and the 
most striking landmark on its western shore ; thence westward nearly in 
the course of the 60th parallel, and then southwest to the extremity of 
the Peninsula of Aliaska, in 54 degrees 40 minutes, around which it 
again turns to the north, and continues in that course to Cape Prince 
of Wales. Aliaska is, like California, formed by the projection of a lofty 
mountain-ridge into the Pacific ; from its extremity, and as if in contin- 
uation of it, a chain of islands, called the Aleutian Archipelago, extends 
westward, across the sea, to the vicinity of the opposite Asiatic Penin- 
sula of Kamschatka. 

IY. Of the northwesternmost division of the American coast, extending 
from Cape Prince of Wales, southward, to the extremity of Aliaska, little 
need be said. The part of the Pacific north of the Aleutian Islands, 



. ics, . >- jmoi_. -otinguished as the Sea c 
";, and sometimes as Beering's Sea, in honor of the Russian 
. w« of that name who first explored it. From this sea several 
amis run up into the main land of America, of which the largest are 
Norton Sound, on the south side of the peninsula terminated by Cape 
Prince of Wales, and Bristol Bay, called by the Russians Katnischezgaia 
Gulf, on the northwest side of Aliaska. The upper part of Bristol Bay 
receives the waters of a large lake called Lake Shellikof ; a little west of 
the outlet of which, on the shore of the bay, stands the small Russian 
factory, or fur-trading establishment, of Alexandrowsk, the only spot on 
this whole coast occupied by civilized persons. 

The Aleutian Archipelago is considered by the Russians as consisting 
of three groups of islands. Nearest Aliaska are the Fox Islands, of which 
the largest are Unimak, Unalashka, and Umnak ; next to these are the 
Andreanowsky Islands, among which are Atscha, Tonaga, and Kanaga, 
with many smaller islands, sometimes called the Rat Islands ; the most 
western group is that first called the Aleutian or Aleoutsky Islands, which 
are Attou, Mednoi, (or Copper Island,) and Beering's Island. On the lat- 
ter Beering was wrecked and lost his life in 1741. These islands are 
nearly all, like Aliaska, rocky, mountainous, and volcanic ; they are of 
little value in an agricultural point of view, but the Russians derive great 
advantage from the skins and furs of animals in and about their shores, 
for procuring which they have several establishments in the Archipel- 
ago, particularly on Unalashka. The original inhabitants are a hardy 
and bold race, whom the Russians had great difficulty in subduing ; these 
people are, however, at the present day, employed by their masters in 
fishing ^nd hunting for furs in every part of the Pacific, and they com- 
pose a large proportion of the population of all the Russian settlements 
in America. There are other islands in the Sea of Kamschatka, of which 
the largest are Nunivak, near the American shore, under the 60th parallel, 
and Saint Lawrence or Clerked Island, at the entrance of Beering's Strait. 

V. Kamschatka is a large peninsula formed of volcanic mountains, ex- 
tending from the Asiatic continent southward to the latitude of 52 degrees 
10 minutes, under which its southernmost point, Cape Lopatka, is situ- 
ated. West of the peninsula, between it and the main land of Asia, is 
the Sea of Ochotsk, which is separated from the Pacific on the south- 
east by the Kurile Islands, extending southwest from Kamschatka to- 
wards Japan. The principal place in Kamschatka is Petro-Paulowsk, or 
the Harbor of Saint Peter and Saint Paid, on the Bay of Avatscha, in 
latitude of 53 degrees 58 minutes ; it is a small town, the inhabitants of 
which are all engaged directly or indirectly in the fur trade. 

VI. The next natural division of the coast is that included in the great 
bend between the southwest extremity of Aliaska and Cape Spenser. 
Here are to be remarked two deep gulfs, extending northward into the 
continent to the 62d degree, through each of which it was for some time 
hoped that a passage would be discovered communicating with the At- 
lantic. The westernmost of these gulfs was originally called Cook's 
River, but is now generally named on English maps Cook's Inlet, and 
is known by the Russians as the Gulf of Kenay ; the other, which is 
only separated from the former by a peninsula, received from the British 
navigators the appellation of Prince William's Sound, and is distin- 
guished by the Russians as the Bay of Tschugatsch; it is unnecessary 



, lo say more ot tut,.. 

3 Russians have several factories on the shores u* * 
ard are Comptroller's Bay and Admiralty, or Beering's, or Jh 
r akutat Bay, where it is generally believed that Beering first landeu 
mierica in 1741. In the reports of Beering's voyage, it is stated that 
he mouth of a large and rapid river was found on this part of the coast;, 
none such, however, has been discovered, though a considerable stream 
called by the Russians Reca Mednaia, (or Copper River,) empties into 
Comptroller's Bay at some distance from the ocean. 

On this coast are several islands, of which the most extensive is Kodi- 
ak, at the entrance of Cook's Inlet, separated from Aliaska on the west 
by the Strait of Shellikof; its surface is rugged and mountainous, and it 
is indented by many deep bays, on one of which, called the Gulf of 
Chiniatskoy, on the east side of the island, is situated Saint Paul, one 
of the largest Russian settlements in America. South of Kodiak, near 
the southern extremity of Aliaska, are the Schumagin Islands, called 
after a seaman of Beering's ship, who died and was buried on one of them. 
Mount Saint Elias is on the northeast side of the bend, nearly under 
the 60th parallel of latitude ; its height is estimated at seventeen thousand 
feet, and that of Mount Fairweather, a little farther south, at fourteen 
thousand. They are both volcanic, as are nearly all the mountains in 
this part of America. 

The region bounded on the west and south by the divisions of the 
American coast above described is believed to be a frozen waste, traversed 
in all directions by mountains, and utterly incapable of affording a sup- 
port to a population except in the immediate vicinity of the ocean. It 
is used by the Russians only for the purposes of the fur trade, which is 
carried on at the cost of a dreadful sacrifice of comfort and of life ; and, 
as the animals yielding furs are daily diminishing in number, this part 
of the world must, no doubt, ere long be abandoned by all civilized 
persons. 

VII. The Northtoest Archipelago is contained, as already stated, in a re- 
cess of the coast of the continent, between the 48th and the 58th parallels, 
(between which also extend the islands of Great Britain and Ireland on 
the western side of Europe.) This Archipelago was first minutely exam- 
ined by British navigators, who have bestowed on the islands names de- 
rived almost exclusively from the lists of the royal family, the ministry, 
the parliament, the peerage, the army, and the navy of Great Britain ; 
none of which names are, however, or probably will be at any future pe- 
riod, used by the occupants of the islands. To present all these names 
would be a tedious and useless labor ; and little more will be attempted 
than to afford some idea of the principal groups. 

King George the Third's Islands are the most northwestern ; the two 
largest of these are, respectively, called by the Russians who occupy 
them Chichagoff's and Baranoff's Islands. Near the western side of the 
latter, and divided from it by a narrow strait, is a small island, in the 
middle of which rises a beautiful conical peak, named by the Spaniards 
in 1775, Mount San Jacinto, and by the English under Cook, three years 
afterwards, Mount Edgecumb. On the southeast side of this strait, 
called by the Spaniards Port Remedios, by the British Norfolk Sound, 
and by the Russians the Gulf of Sitca, stands Sitca, or New Archangel, 
the capital of all the Russian possessions in America. It was estab- 



lU ±<^j'^ - y i4,jliu.j uy nit; luust xcuowu u^^^ ^ 

.sand inhabitants, more than three-fourths of whou 
: t M tort mounts sixteen short eighteen-pounders, and ten 
long nine-pounders, and is garrisoned by about three hundred persons. 
The Admiralty Islands are between the first described group and the 
main land, being separated from the former by the Chatham Canal, and 
from the latter by Stephen's Passage, The part of the sea between these 
two groups and the continent on the north is called Cross Sound, from 
which the Lynn Canal, an extensive bay, stretches northward behind 
Mount Fairweather. South of the King George's and the Admiralty 
Islands are the groups of the Duke of York, the Prince of Wales, and 
Revillagigedo, (the last called after a Yiceroy of Mexico,) between which 
are Prince Frederick'' s Sound, the Duke of Clarence's Strait, and other 
passages. 

All the islands above mentioned are north of the parallel of 54 degrees 
40 minutes, which is the latitude of the southernmost point of the Prince 
of Wales's Islands, and are therefore all, with the coasts of the continent 
in their vicinity, among the territories on which the Russians claim the 
exclusive right of making settlements, in virtue of their treaties with 
the United States and Great Britain, as before stated at page 3. 

Between the 52d and 54th parallels, extends a large island, of triangular 
shape, which will be found on the map, bearing the name of Queen Char- 
lotte's, Or Washington's Island. Its western coast was discovered by the 
Spaniards in 1774; from which time to 1787 it was considered, like all 
the other islands of the Archipelago, as forming part of the continent. In 
the last mentioned year, Captain Dixon, commanding the merchant ship 
Queen Charlotte, of London, becoming convinced that it was an insulated 
territory, bestowed on it the name of his vessel ; but it was first circum- 
navigated in the summer of 1789, by Captain Gray, in the sloop Wash- 
ington, of Boston, who, without knowing any thing of Dixon's voyage, 
called the country Washington's Island. It was the favorite resort of the 
early American fur-traders in the north Pacific ; and the manuscript Jour- 
nal of Captain Ingraham, who commanded the brig Hope, of Boston, in 
that sea, from 1791 to 1793, contains minute descriptions and charts of 
several ports, particularly on its eastern side, which are not noticed in any 
published accounts or maps. The limits of this sketch do not admit of mi- 
nute descriptions, or many interesting facts relative to the island in ques- 
tion might be related on the authority of Ingraham. He describes the 
soil and climate as being well adapted for agricultural purposes, particu- 
larly in the vicinity of Cummashawah Bay, a fine harbor on the east coast, 
in latitude of 53 degrees 3 minutes ; and of Hancock's River, on the north 
side, called by the Spaniards Port Estrada, which was after it had been 
surveyed and named by the captain of the brig Hancock, from Boston. 

Pitt's, Burke's, and the Princess Royal groups, are composed of many 
small islands, situated very near the continent, east of Qxieen Charlotte's 
islands. On one of these, called Dundas Island, the British Hudson's 
Bay Company have a trading-post. 

The largest and southernmost island in the northwest Archipelago, is 
that called Quadra and Vancouver's Island, extending, in its greatest 
length, from northwest to southeast about 200 miles, between the parallels 
of 48| and 51 degrees, and separated from the continent on the south and 
east by the aria of the sea called the Strait of Fuca. The spot on this 



1 , 



island most worthy of note is Nootka Sound, an 
eating with the Pacific in latitude of 49 degrees 34 lm, 
excellent harbors for vessels in many places, particularly 
on the north side, about ten miles from the ocean. This place was for 
many years the chief rendezvous of the fur-traders on the northwest coast ; 
and some of the most important events in the history of that part of the 
world occurred there, as may be seen in the 6th and 7th chapters of this 
memoir. The name of Nootka was first applied by Cook, who believed 
it to be that employed by the natives ; no word has, however, since been 
found in use among them more nearly resembling Nootka than Ywquotl, 
their name for Friendly Cove. A few miles southeast from Nootka is 
another bay called Clyoquot; and further in the same direction, at the en- 
trance of the Strait of Fuca, is a third called Nittinat, in which are many 
islands. 

The Strait of Fuca extends between the island last described and the 
continent, from Cape Flattery, directly eastward, about one hundred and 
twenty miles, and thence northwest about two hundred and fifty miles, 
communicating with the ocean in the north through an entrance, called 
by the Americans Pintard's, and by the British Queen Charlotte's Sound. 
The southern part of the strait is about forty miles in width ; the part 
running northeast is in some places nearly as wide, but generally much 
narrower, and is filled with islands. This passage was discovered, in 
1592, by Juan de Fuca, a Greek pilot, who declared that he ha'd sailed 
through it into the Atlantic ; his statement was, however, disproved in 
1792 by Vancouver, Galiano, and Valdes, who surveyed it together, and 
determined that it was only a great sound. The island which it sepa- 
rates from the continent, in that year received its present long and in- 
convenient appellation, by agreement between Vancouver and the Span- 
ish commandant, Quadra. 

VIII. The parts of the continent contiguous to these islands have re- 
ceived from British navigators many names, such as New Norfolk, New 
Cornwall, Neiv Hanover, and Neio Georgia; all of which have become obso- 
lete. The country north of the 58th parallel is almost unknown. Two large 
rivers, the Peace River and the Turnagain, flow from it eastward through 
the Rocky Mountains into the Mackenzie, which empties into the Arctic 
Sea ; another river, called the Stikine, has also been lately discovered 
entering the Pacific east of Duke of York's Island, in latitude of 56 de- 
grees 50 minutes, which is said to be three miles wide at its mouth and 
one mile wide thirty miles higher up. 

The country on the Pacific, between the 49th and 58th parallels, is usual- 
ly distinguished by the British fur-traders as New Caledonia; and, from all 
accounts, it resembles the northern part of Scotland in its ruggedness, its 
lakes, and its barrenness. Its principal lakes are Stuart's, Babine, and Fra- 
zer's Lakes, all situated between the 54th and the 56th parallels. Babine 
Lake communicates with the Pacific by a large stream called Simpson's 
River; Frazer's and Stuart's Lakes are head- waters of Frazer's River, 
which flows from them nearly due south about four hundred miles, and 
enters the ocean in latitude of 49 degrees. The soil of New Caledonia 
is everywhere steril, very small portions only being fit for cultivation ; 
and the climate, though much milder than that of the dther countries of 
America between the same latitudes, is generally too severe for the pro- 
duction of the esculent grains and vegetables. The British Hudson's 



,veral establishments for carrying on the fur trade 
which the principal are Fort Alexandria, on Frazer's 
•., abo \ , :ree hundred miles from the sea, and Fort Langly, at the 
mouth of tire same stream. From these, and other ports in New Caledo- 
nia, communications are maintained with Fort Vancouver, on the Colum- 
bia, by way of the rivers, and by steam and sail-vessels on the sea. 

The coast of Oregon extends from the Strait of Fuca to Cape Mendo- 
cino ; it will be hereafter particularly described. 

IX. Cape Mendocino presents two points running out into the ocean, 
about ten miles apart, of which the southernmost, in latitude of 40 de- 
grees 19 minutes, is the highest and the most prominent. 

From it the coast of California extends southeastward, about one thou- 
sand four hundred miles, to Cape San Lucas. On this coast are several 
harbors, of which the principal will be described. 

Port Bodega, communicating with the Pacific in latitude of 38 degrees 
19 minutes, is supposed to be the harbor in which Drake lay with his 
vessel in 1579. Here the Russians made their first settlement in Cali- 
fornia in 1812. Their chief establishment at present is Ross, immediately 
on the ocean, about thirty miles farther north ; it contains about four hun- 
dred inhabitants, and from it the northern factories receive their supplies 
of provisions. 

Port San Francisco joins the Pacific, by a passage about two miles 
wide, under the parallel of 37 degrees 55 minutes. At a short distance 
from the sea it expands into a large bay, offering, as admitted by all the 
navigators who have visited it, one of the finest harbors in the world, and 
possessing every requisite for a great naval establishment. It receives 
two rivers, the Jesus Maria and the Sacramento, at its northern extremity, 
and another called the San Joaquin from the south. The Sacramento is 
navigable for small vessels to the distance of eighty miles from its mouth, 
beyond which little is known about its course ; it is believed, however, 
to rise in the northeast angle of California, near the junction of the Snowy 
Mountains with the Rocky Mountains. This bay is much frequented by 
British and American whaling vessels, and it is, no doubt, destined to be 
the centre of an extensive commerce. Particular accounts of its nume- 
rous advantages may be found in the Journal of the Voyage made by 
Captain Beechey through the North Pacific in the years 1824- ? 25. 

Monterey Bay is contained in a semicircular recess of the coast, open- 
ing westward, about twenty miles in width, between its northern point, 
Cape Ano Nueuo and Cape Pinos on the south. Just within Cape Pinos 
there is good anchorage for vessels, where they are protected from the 
prevailing northwest winds, and are only in danger from the violent gusts 
which sometimes blow from the southeast along the whole Californian 
coast. 

Port San Diego, in latitude of 32 degrees 51 minutes, near which the 
Spaniards planted their first colony on the west coast of California in 
1769, is a long arm of the sea, extending southeast from its mouth into 
the land, and defended against the billows by a sand-ridge. 

The Bay of San Jose, near the 23d degree, immediately east of Cape 
San Lucas, at the southernmost part of the peninsula, is probably the 
same in which the Spaniards first anchored when California was dis- 
covered by them in 1535, and which received from Cortes the name of 
Port Santa Cruz. It is one of the places where the pearl-fishery has 
been most successful.- 



Near the Californian coast are many smau _ 
jriginally established by missionaries of the Francis 
ico, and were intended chiefly for the purpose of civihz* 
ing the natives. During the subsistence of the Spanish autxx^iity, u__ 
missions were fostered by the Government, and were maintained by 
means of supplies sent from Mexico ; but, since the downfall of that 
Power, they have not only received little assistance from Mexico, but 
have, moreover, been taxed for the support of the republic, of which the 
Indian neophytes were declared to be citizens. These Indians are, how- 
ever, unfortunately, among the most indolent and unintellectual of the 
human family; incapable of being affected by any other considerations 
than those addressed to their present and immediate hopes and fears. 
The missionaries treated them as children ; and those who have been re- 
moved from under the care and authority of these priests have uniformly 
sunk at once into misery and vice. The Mexican population is little, if 
at all, better than the aboriginal ; the soldiers and colonists sent there be- 
ing generally criminals banished to this — the Botany Bay of the republic. 

There is no rain on the coast of California from March to November; 
during the other months the rains are generally incessant, though in 
some years very little falls. The dews in summer are, however, so heavy 
as to prevent the destruction of vegetation. Near the sea, the temperature 
is at all times salubrious and agreeable, the heat of the sun in summer be- 
ing moderated by constant breezes ; but farther inland it is said to be most 
oppressive. Agriculture has been, as yet, little practised in this country ; 
the inhabitants subsisting almost entirely on the meat of the wild cattle 
which cover the plains. The soil and climate appear to be favorable to 
the growth of every vegetable substance necessary for the subsistence 
and enjoyment of man ; but no large portion of the territory will probably 
be found productive without artificial irrigation. 

Of the interior of California little is known. The northern part, or 
continental portion, called New California, is said to be traversed by 
mountain-ridges, between which are extensive plains; some covered with 
grass, forming prairies, others sandy and destitute of vegetation, and others 
again being marshes. It appears to be certain that very little of the 
water which falls on this country from the clouds finds its way directly 
to the sea; as the line of mountains which borders the coast is traversed 
only by a few inconsiderable streams, besides those emptying into the 
Bay of San Francisco. 

The peninsula, or Old California, is about, seven hundred miles in 
length, and one hundred and thirty in breadth where it joins the conti- 
nent, under the 33d parallel ; farther south its breadth is less, not exceed- 
ing fifty miles in some places. The whole territory consists of moun- 
tains ; its climate is hot and dry, the soil is barren, and the inhabitants are 
few and miserable, deriving their support almost exclusively from the sea. 

The Gulf of California, or Sea of Cortes, or Vermillion Sea, which 
separates the peninsula from the main land of Mexico on the east, is 
about seven hundred miles in length, varying in breadth from sixty to - 
one hundred and twenty. At its northern extremity it receives two large 
rivers — the Gila, flowing from the east ; and the Colorado, which rises in 
the north among the Rocky Mountains, about the 40th degree of latitude, 
near the sources of the Lewis, the Platte, the Arkansas, and the Rio del 
Norte. The northern part of the territory, on the eastern side of the 



. .. ... , rbfa, raid the southern part Sinaloa ; they together form 

department of the Mexican republic. The harbor of Guaymas in So- 
**6ra, near the 28th degree of latitude, is said to be one of the best in 
America, and the town has a large and increasing trade ; at the entrance 
of the gulf, on its eastern side, is another rising commercial place, called 
Mazatlan ; and farther south is San Bias, among the principal ports of Mex- 
ico on the Pacific. The old Mexican towns of Culiacan, on the river of the 
same name a little north of Mazatlan, and Chiametla, between the latter 
place and San Bias, are now nearly deserted. 
X. We next proceed to take a — 

GENERAL VIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL MOUNTAIN- CHAINS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

It has been already said, that the whole western coast of North America 
is bounded by a continuous chain of mountains ; and it may now be added, 
that the whole interior of the continent, to a considerable distance from 
the Pacific, is traversed by lofty ridges, separated from each other by val- 
leys or plains of small extent. Of these interior ridges, the principal in 
every respect is that known by the general name of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, forming the northern portion of the great chain of highlands which 
stretches from the Arctic Sea to the Strait of Magellan, dividing, except in 
a few places, the territories drained by streams flowing into the Atlantic, 
from those whose waters enter the Pacific. Throughout its whole course, 
this chain lies nearer to the western shores of the continent than to the 
eastern, and therefore much the greater quantity of the water which Amer- 
ica supplies to the ocean is discharged into the Atlantic. 

The general course of the Rocky Mountain ridge is from north-north- 
west to south-southeast. Between the 58th degree of latitude and the 
48th, it is nearly parallel to the Pacific coast, from which its distance is 
about five hundred miles; from the 48th degree to the 40th, the coast runs 
due south, so that the distance between it and the ridge is constantly in- 
creasing, and on the 40th parallel exceeds seven hundred miles. The 
name of Rocky Mountains is not applied to any part of the chain south of 
the last-mentioned latitude ; the parts north of the 50th degree are some- 
times called the Chipeioyan Mountains. 

The highest points in the Rocky Mountains, and probably in North 
America, if not in the whole western continent, are those about the 52d 
degree of latitude, near the northernmost sources of the Columbia river. 
Mr. Thompson, the astronomer of the Hudson's Bay Trading Company, 
has measured several of these peaks, of which, one called Mount Broicn 
is estimated by him at sixteen thousand feet, and another, Mount Hooker, 
at fifteen thousand seven hundred feet above the ocean level. It has been 
stated that the same gentleman has recently found other points farther 
north, which he considers to be more than ten thousand feet higher than 
either of those above mentioned. About the 42d parallel are also many 
lofty peaks, particularly among the Wind-river Mountains, a spur or offset, 
which extends southeast from the main chain, and from which flow many 
of the head-waters of the Missouri and the Yellow Stone Rivers. North of 
the 56th degree the ridge diminishes in height, and near the Arctic Sea 
it is only a line of hills. 

Near the 42d degree of latitude, three other extensive ridges are united 
to the Rocky Mountains ; one on its eastern side, running towards the 



xViexican uull, and forming the eastern wall or ^ 0 
through which flows the river Bravo del Norte ; another, stretcnm & 
west to and through the peninsula of California, between which an^ 
Rocky Mountains is a vast region, drained principally by the rivers Colo- 
rado and Gila, emptying into the northern extremity of the Californian 
Gulf; the third ridge is that commonly called the Snowy Mountains, run- 
ning westward to the Pacific, in which it terminates at Cape Mendocino, 
and completely separating Oregon, or the country of the Columbia, on the 
north, from California on its southern side. From the place of union of 
these chains also flow the head-waters of the Bravo, emptying into the 
Mexican Gulf — of the Colorado — of the Lewis, the principal southern 
branch of the Columbia which falls into the Pacific —and of the Missouri, 
the Yellow Stone, the Platte, and the Arkansas, all of which are dis- 
charged into the Mississippi. 

Near the place of union of these chains is a remarkable depression of 
the Rocky Mountains, called the Southern Pass, affording a short and 
easy route for carriages between the head-waters of the south branch of 
the Platte, on the east, and those of the Colorado, on the west ; from 
which latter, is another pass through the mountains, northward, to the 
Lewis River. There are other depressions of the great chain farther 
north, between the Yellow Stone, on the one side, and the Salmon River 
and Flathead branches of the Columbia, on the other; but they offer 
much greater difficulties to the traveller than the Southern Pass, which 
is, and will probably continue to be, the principal avenue of communica- 
tion between the United States and the territories of the Far West. 

In latitude of 53 is the great cleft, from which the Columbia flows, on 
one side, to the Pacific, and the Athabasca, on the other, to the Mackenzie 
emptying into the Arctic Ocean. Farther north, the Peace and the Turn- 
again Rivers, which rise near the Pacific, pass through the Rocky Moun- 
tains into the Mackenzie. 

Respecting the Snowy Mountains, very little exact information has been 
obtained. They appear to run in an unbroken line, from Cape Mendocino 
to the Rocky Mountains, between the 39th and the 42d parallels of lati- 
tude, and to be united with the other ridges extending northward and 
southward. Whether they are to be considered as a distinct chain, or as 
formed by the union of branches from the others, is a question interesting 
only to the geologist; certain it is, that they present a complete barrier 
between California and the country of the Columbia. 

XL The remainder of this sketch will be devoted entirely to the con- 
sideration of — 

OREGON, OR THE COUNTRY OF THE COLUMBIA* 

Oregon, considered as comprehending the territory drained by the Co- 
lumbia river, together with the seacoasts of that territory, lies within the 
following natural boundaries : on the east, the Rocky Mountains, extend- 
ing about nine hundred miles, from the 54th parallel to the 41st; on the 
south, the Snowy Mountains, in their whole length about seven hundred 
miles, from the Rocky Mountains to Cape Mendocino, on the Pacific, near 
the 40th degree of latitude ; on the west, the Pacific Ocean, from Cape 
Mendocino, about five hundred miles due north, to Cape Flattery, at the 
entrance of the Strait of Fuca, near the 48th degree of latitude ; and on 



. ( : * uca, from Cape Flattery, about one hundred and 

nty miles eastward, and thence by a line running northeast, along the 
M*mmit of the highlands separating the waters of the Columbia from 
those of Frazer's River, to the Rocky Mountains, which it would reach 
about the 54th degree of latitude. Such are the natural boundaries of the 
territory drained by the Columbia, the surface of which may be estimated 
at about three hundred and fifty thousand square miles. 

The coast of Oregon on the Strait of Fuca is about one hundred and 
twenty miles in length, eastward from Cape Flattery, where the strait 
joins the Pacific under the parallel of 48 degrees 23 minutes. The shores 
are composed of low sandy cliffs, overhanging beaches of sand or stones; 
from them the land ascends gradually to the foot of the mountains, which 
rise abruptly to a great height within a few miles of the sea. The only 
harbor immediately on the strait is Port Discovery, situated near the 
southeast angle, which Vancouver pronounces perfectly safe and conve- 
nient for ships of any size ; it runs southward from the strait into the land, 
and is defended from the violence of the waves by Protection Island, 
which stretches partly across its entrance on the north. A few miles far- 
ther east a long arm of the sea, called Admiralty Inlet, penetrates the 
continent, southward from the strait, more than one hundred miles, ter- 
minating near the 47th degree of latitude in a bay named by Vancouver 
Pugefs Sound ; Hood's Canal is a branch of this inlet, extending south- 
westward, and many smaller branches are given off on each side. The 
country surrounding Admiralty Inlet is described by Vancouver as beau- 
tiful, fertile, and in every respect agreeable ; and the bay, with its nume- 
rous arms stretching into the interior, must offer great advantages for 
commercial intercourse hereafter. The Hudson's Bay Company has tra- 
ding-posts on these waters, of which the principal is Fort Nasqually, at 
the southernmost part of Puget's Sound. 

On the Pacific, the coast of Oregon extends five hundred miles in a 
line nearly straight from north to south, presenting in its whole length 
but two places of refuge for vessels. The northernmost of these is Bid- 
finch's or Graifs Bay, discovered in May, 1792, by Captain Robert Gray, 
of Boston ; it is situated in latitude of 46 degrees 58 minutes, and offers 
a secure anchorage for small vessels, sheltered from the sea by sandy spits 
and bars. " It appears to be of little importance as a port, in its natural 
state," says Vancouver, "as it affords but two or three situations where 
boats can approach -sufficiently near the shore to effect a landing yet 
should the country become settled, this and other disadvantages may, per- 
haps, be corrected by artificial means. The other harbor is the mouth of 
the River Columbia, about thirty miles south of the former, which was also 
discovered by Captain Gray, and received from him the name of his ship; 
it will be described particularly hereafter. Port Trinidad, so called by 
the Spaniards who anchored there in 1775, is an open roadstead in lati- 
tude 41 degrees 3 minutes, entirely unprotected from the ocean, and, ac- 
cording to Vancouver, unworthy to be called a harbor. Several small 
rivers fall into the Pacific south of the Columbia, of which the principal 
are the Klamet and the Umqua, both discharging their waters near the 
43d parallel. Vessels drawing not more than eight feet water may enter 
the Umqua ; at the mouth of which the Hudson's Bay Company have a 
trading-factory. 

On this coast are several capes ; none of which, however, project far 



ato the ocean. The most remarkable is Cape . 
Spanish navigator Aguilar in 1803, and named u y yancouvei . 
Cape Orford; it lies nearly under the 43d parallel, and is the extrenm, 
a line of highlands which separates the valley of the Umqua, on the north, 
from the Klamet, on the south. The only island between Cape Flattery 
and Cape Mendocino, which has been thought worthy of a name, is one 
close to the continent, near the latitude of 47^ degrees, called by the Span- 
iards Isla de Dolores, or Isle of Grief, in commemoration of the murder 
of some of their men on the contiguous main land ; it afterwards re- 
ceived the appellation of Destruction Island, from a similar loss there sus- 
tained by a British vessel in 1787. 

XII. The territory drained by the Columbia presents a constant suc- 
cession of mountain-ridges and valleys, or plains of small extent. The 
principal ridges are two in number, besides the Rocky Mountains, run- 
ning nearly parallel to each other and to the coasts ; and the country 
is thus divided into three great regions, which dirfer materially in climate, 
soil, and productive powers. The first region, or low country, is that 
between the coast and the chain of mountains nearest to the sea; the sec- 
ond region is between the mountains nearest the sea and the middle ridge, 
called the Blue Mountains ; and the third region, or high country, is be- 
tween the Blue Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. All these divis- 
ions are crossed by the Columbia, the main stream of which is formed in 
the middle region, by the union of several branches flowing from the 
Rocky Mountains, and receiving in their course supplies from innumera- 
ble smaller tributaries draining the intermediate countries. 

The chain of mountains running nearest the Pacific, southward from 
the Strait of Fuca, has received many names, no one of which appears to 
have been generally adopted. It is called the California Mountains ; the 
Klamet Mountains, from the Indian nation which occupies a part of the 
territory on its western side ; and the Cascade Mountains, from the cas- 
cades or cataracts formed by the Columbia, in passing through the ridge. 
Mr. Kelly, a patriotic American citizen, has proposed to call it the Presi- 
dent Range, and has accordingly assigned to the seven highest peaks, 
respectively, the names of the Chief Magistrates of the United States, from 
Washington to Jackson, in succession.* These mountains are of con- 
siderable elevation, and many of their summits are visible from a great 
distance at sea, especially the most northern, called Mount Olympus, 
near Cape Flattery. Mr. Wyeth speaks thus rapturously of the view 
of them from the top of one of the Blue Mountains : " The traveller going 
west, sees the high points of the California Mountains, about one hundred 
and sixty miles distant, some of which rise about sixteen thousand feet 
above the level of the Pacific. All other views in America sink into lit- 
tleness in comparison with this. From one spot, I have seen seven of 



* Kelly's Mount Washington is the same called by Vancouver Mount Hood, rising due east 
of the mouth of the Columbia, at the distance of about one hundred miles; Mount Adams is 
the Mount St. Helen's, of the same navigator, under the 45th parallel ; Mount Jefferson re- 
ceived that name from Lewis and Clarke, in 1805; it is the lofty peak in latitude of 44£ de- 
grees, which the British fur-traders have thought proper to call Mount Vancouver; Msunt 
Madison is the Mount Maclaughlin of the British maps; Mount Monroe is in latitude of 43 de- 
grees 20 minutes ; Mount John Quincy Adams is in 42 degrees 10 minutes; Mount Jackson is a 
stupendous pinnacle, under the parallel of 41 degrees 40 minutes, called by the British Mount 
Pitt. 



i points v,± this range, extending from north to south, their perfect ' 
(etiess and steep conical shape causing them to appear like huge sugar- 
M . av r es." # 

The distance from the coast to the foot of this chain is in some places 
one hundred miles, in others much less. The intervening country is 
crossed in various directions by low ridges connected with the principal 
chain, some of which run parallel to it, while others stretch towards the 
ocean. Between these ridges are valleys, of which the two most extensive 
lie immediately at the base of the great chain, and are drained by rivers 
flowing into the Columbia ; the waters from the others falling directly into 
the Pacific. Of the two rivers which empty into the Columbia, the 
northern, called the Coicilitz, has been imperfectly examined, and little has 
been reported concerning it. The southern, described by Lewis and Clarke 
as the Multonomah, but now more generally known as the Wallamet, 
has been traced more than two hundred miles due south, from its en- 
trance into the Columbia, through a valley which is said to be the most de- 
lightful and fertile part of Northwest America. 

The climate of this region is more favorable to agriculture than those of 
the other parts of Oregon, although it is certainly adverse to great produc- 
tiveness. The summer is warm and very dry. From April to October, 
while the westerly winds prevail, rain seldom falls in any part of Ore- 
gon ; during the other months, when the south wind blows constantly, 
the rains are almost incessant in the lower region, although sometimes the 
dry season there continues longer. Farther from the Pacific, the rains 
are less frequent and abundant; and near the Rocky Mountains, they are 
reduced to a few showers in the spring. In the valleys of the low country 
snow is rarely seen, and the ground is not often frozen, so that ploughing 
may generally be carried on during the whole winter. In 1834 the Co- 
lumbia was frozen for thirteen days, but this was principally in conse- 
quence of the accumulation of ice from above. "This country," says Mr. 
Wyeth, " is well calculated for wheat, barley, oats, rye, pease, apples, po- 
tatoes, and all the roots cultivated in the northern States of the Union ; 
Indian corn does not succeed well, and is an unprofitable crop. The 
yield of wheat, with very poor cultivation, is about fifteen bushels of the 
best quality to the acre. Horses and neat cattle succeed tolerably well ; 
the winter being mild, they are enabled to subsist upon the produce of the 
open fields. Hogs live and multiply, but cannot be made fat on the range 
of the country. The agriculture of this region must always suffer from 
the extreme dryness of the summer. The products which ripen earliest 
sustain the least damage, but these which come late are often injured." 

Of the soil of this region, the same acute observer says : " The up- 
lands are tolerably good, but the cost of clearing the enormous growth 
of timber on them would be beyond their worth ; it is too thick and 
heavy to allow of crops being obtained by girdling the trees ; and it must 
be removed or burnt, the labor of which is beyond the conception of those 
acquainted only with the forests of the United States. There are, how- 
ever, prairies sufficiently numerous and extensive for the cultivation of 
the next, century, which, being chiefly on the second bottoms of rivers, 
Qjte extremely fertile, and above inundation." The forests in this part of 



* Letter from Nath. Wyeth, in the report of the commiftee of the House of Representatives 
on the Oregon Territory, presented February 16, 1838. See page 196 of this memoir. 



America are, from all accounts, magnificent. Koo. 
growing near Fort George, or Astoria, on the Columbia, about ei^. 
from the sea, which measured forty- six feet in circumference at ten A 
from the ground, one hundred and fifty-three feet in length before giving 
off a branch, and not less than three hundred feet in its whole height. 
Another tree, of the same species, is said to be standing on the banks of 
the Umqua, the trunk of which is fifty-seven feet in circumference, and 
two hundred and sixteen feet in length, below its branches. Cox adds, 
that " prime sound pines, from two hundred to two hundred and eighty 
feet in height, and from twenty to forty feet in circumference, are by no 
means uncommon." 

XIII. The Blue Mountains extend from north to south, though the 
whole territory of the Columbia, between the Rocky Mountains and the 
chain which borders the coast. Their course is not so regular or clearly de- 
fined as those of the other chains ; and they appear to be broken into sev- 
eral ridges, some of which run towards the Rocky Mountains on the east, 
while others join the westernmost chain. These mountains are steep and 
rocky, generally volcanic, and some of them covered with eternal snow ; 
they are crossed by both branches of the Columbia, which also receives 
several tributaries from the valleys on their western sides. 

The middle region of Oregon, between the mountains nearest the coast 
on the west and the Blue Mountains on the east, is more elevated, more 
dry, and less fertile, than the low country. It consists chiefly of plains, 
between ridges of mountains, the soil of which is generally a yellow sandy 
clay, covered with grass, small shrubs, and prickly pears. Timber is 
very scarce; the trees, which are small, and of soft useless woods, such as 
cotton -wOod, sumach, and willow, being only found in the neighborhood 
of the streams. The climate during the summer is universally repre- 
sented as most agreeable and salubrious; the days are warm, and the. 
nights cool; but the want of moisture in the air prevents the contrast of 
temperature from being injurious to the health. The rains begin later in 
the year, and end sooner, than in the lower country, and they are less 
constant and heavy. There is little snow in the southern valleys ; farther 
north it is more common. 

Few attempts at cultivation have been made in this region, and they 
have not been, upon the whole, successful. Wyeth conceives that " the 
agriculture of this territory must always be limited to the wants of a pas- 
toral people, and to the immediate vicinity of the streams and mountains; 
and irrigation must be resorted to, if a large population is to be supported 
in it. This country, which affords little prospect for the tiller of the soil, 
is perhaps one of the best for grazing in the world. It has been much 
underrated by travellers who have only passed by the Columbia, the 
land along which is a collection of sand and rocks, and almost with- 
out vegetation ; but a few miles from the Columbia, towards the hills and 
mountains, the prairies open wide, covered with a low grass of a most nu- 
tritious kind, which remains good throughout the year. In September 
there are slight rains, at which time the grass starts ; and in October and 
November there is a good coat of green grass, which remains so until the 
ensuing summer ; and about June it is ripe in the lower plains, and, dry- 
ing without being wet, is like made hay; in this state it remains until the 
autumn rains again revive it. The herdsman in this extensive valley 
(of more than one hundred and fifty miles in width) could at all times 



**s animals in good grass, by approaching the mountains in sum- 
n & , on the declivities of which almost any climate may be had ; and the 
dry grass of the country is at all times excellent. It is in this section of 
the country that all the horses are reared for the supply of the Indians and 
traders in the interior. It is not uncommon that one Indian owns some 
hundreds of them. I think this section, for producing hides, tallow, and 
beef, is superior to any part of North America; for, with equal facilities for 
raising the animals, the weather in winter, when the grass is best, and 
consequently the best time to fatten the animals, is cold enough to salt 
meat, which is not the case in Upper California. There is no question 
that sheep might be raised to any extent, in a climate so dry and suffi- 
ciently warm, where very little snow or rains falls. It is also, I think, the 
healthiest country I have ever been in, which, I suppose, arises from the 
small quantity of decaying vegetable matter, and there being no obstruc- 
tion from timber to the passing winds." 

XIV. The third and last natural division of Oregon is the high country, 
included between the Blue Mountains on the west and the Rocky Moun- 
tains on the east. The southern part of this region is a desert, of steep 
rocky mountains, deep narrow valleys, called holes by the fur-traders, and 
wide plains, covered with sand or gravel, generally volcanic, which can 
never be rendered capable of supporting more than a very small number 
of inhabitants. The distinguishing features of this territory are, its ex- 
treme dryness, and the great difference in temperature between the day and 
the night. It seldom rains, except during a few days in the spring; there 
is little snow in the valleys in winter, though a great deal falls occasion- 
ally on the mountain tops ; and no moisture is deposited in dews. Mr. 
Wyeth saw the thermometer, on the banks of Snake River, in August, 
1832, mark eighteen degrees of Fahrenheit at sunrise, and ninety-two 
degrees at noon of the same day ; and he says that a difference of forty 
degrees between sunrise and noon is not uncommon. Such circum- 
stances are alone sufficient to render any attempts at cultivation in this 
region entirely fruitless ; and a great portion of the surface is moreover so 
strongly impregnated with salts of various kinds, that plants could not flou- 
rish in it, even were a sufficiency of heat and moisture regularly supplied. 

In this region, nevertheless, are situated the sources of all the principal 
branches of the Columbia, the northernmost of which rises near the 54th 
parallel, and the southernmost near the 42d; they, of course, receive their 
waters from the mountains, as very little can be furnished by the valleys. 
There are also many lakes in this part of America, some of which commu- 
nicate with the Columbia ; the others have no outlets, and their waters are 
therefore necessarily salt. # The largest of these collections of salt water, 



* Whenever water runs on or through the earth, it finds salts, which it dissolves, and carries 
with itself to its recipient. If that recipient have no outlet either above or under the surface of 
the earth, by which it communicates with some lower recipient, and thus its waters are not 
taken from it except by evaporation, the salt carried into it by streams must necessarily be 
constantly accumulating there, as evaporation does not abstract a single saline particle. If the 
facts here stated be admitted as true, the deductions cannot be denied; and it is believed that 
no case can be cited in contradiction of either. In like manner, the surfaces of great plains or 
valleys, from which the water is not carried off either by streams or by infiltration, are always 
impregnated with salt. Of this, the high plains of Mexico, and the valleys immediately west 
of the Rocky Mountains, offer examples; the soil of the parts not regularly drained being so 
salt as to render vegetation impossible, even where all the other requisites are furnished in 
abundance. The reverse is not always true ; nevertheless, the saltness of a large body of water, 
or of a large extent of ground, affords strong reasons for suspecting that there is no regular 
dram from it into a lower recipient. 



is that called by the Indians LakeYouta, and repiw-_*w 
Spanish maps as Lake Timpanogos, situated in one of the valleys 01 
lows produced by the interlocking of the Snowy Mountains with the other 
chains, near the Rocky Mountains. Very little is known as to the extent 
and position of this lake, except that it is very large, that it is surrounded 
by high mountains, and that it receives on its northern side a considera- 
ble stream, called the Bear River. Captain Wyeth places its northern 
extremity in latitude of 42 degrees 3 minutes. In one of the maps at- 
tached to Mr. Irving's account of Captain Bonneville's Adventures in the 
Far West, that point is represented under the parallel of 42 'degrees 50 min- 
utes ; while in the other map illustrating the same work, it is placed still 
farther north by half a degree. In the map annexed to this memoir, Lake 
Youta is made to extend from 40J- to 41 \ degrees, on the authority of 
Arrowsmith; which position appears more conformable than any other 
with the best accounts. 

The northern part of the upper region about the Clarke River is less 
barren than that which has been just described ; the valleys are wider, the 
rains more frequent, and the soil is freed from salt by the numerous streams 
which traverse it. 

The country east of the Rocky Mountains ■, for more than two hundred 
miles, is almost as dry and barren as that immediately on the western 
side ; offering no means of support for a population, except in the vicinity 
of the rivers, which flow through it from the great chain into the Missis- 
sippi. The interposition, of this wide desert-tract between the productive 
regions of the Mississippi and those of the Columbia, must retard the set- 
tlement of the latter countries, and exercise a powerful influence over 
their political destinies. 

XY. The Columbia River now remains to be particularly noticed, and 
it will be traced from the sources of its principal confluents to the ocean. 

The northernmost stream of the Columbia is Canoe River, which rises 
near the 54th degree of latitude, and near the 52d is joined by two other 
streams, at a place called by the fur-traders Boat Encampment. Of the 
two streams which join Canoe River, one flows from the south along the 
base of the Rocky Mountains ; the other rises in a great gorge of that chain, 
under the parallel of 53 degrees, its head being a small lake, within a few 
feet of which is another, whence the waters run into the Athabasca, one of 
the branches of the Mackenzie. Of this gorge, Cox says : " The country 
around our encampment presented the wildest and most terrific appear- 
ance of desolation. The sun, shining on a range of stupendous glaciers, 
threw a chilling brightness over the chaotic mass of rocks, ice, and snow, 
by which we were environed. Close to our encampment, one gigantic 
mountain, of conical form, towered majestically into the clouds, far above 
the others; while at intervals, the interest of the scene was heightened by 
the rumbling noise of a descending avalanche." The ground about this 
spot is Higher than any other in North America, and probably on the 
whole western continent. 

After a course of about two hundred miles due south from the point of 
union of the three streams above mentioned, the Columbia receives Mac- 
gillivraifs River, and a little lower down Clarke's, or the Flathead River, 
both flowing from the Rocky Mountains. Clarke's river is nearly as large 
as the Columbia, above the place of their junction ; its sources are situa* 
ted within a short distance of those of the Missouri, and, as the interven- 



xii ; ridge is not very high, it will doubtless form one of the great channels 
ot communication between the eastern and the western sides of the con- 
tinent. In its course it spreads out into a lake, about thirty-five miles 
long and five or six broad, which is situated in a rich valley, surrounded 
by lofty snow-clad mountains. 

The Clarke rushes down into the Columbia, over a ledge of rocks, a little 
before the passage of the latter through the Blue Mountains, where it forms 
the Kettle Falls. Just below these falls, on the south side of the river, in 
latitude of 48 degrees 37 minutes, is situated Fort Colville, one of the prin- 
cipal establishments of the Hudson's Bay Company ; the country around 
which is fertile and agreeable, producing wheat, barley, oats, Indian corn, 
potatoes, peas, and various garden vegetables, in abundance. Thence the 
river flows due west, receiving in its course the Spokan from the south- 
east, about one hundred miles, to its junction with the Okanagan, a 
large stream from the north, where the Hudson's Bay Company have 
another fort, called Fort Okanogan. This place was first occupied by the 
Astoria, or Pacific Fur Company, in 1811 ; from it the Columbia runs 
south to the latitude of 46 degrees 8 minutes, and there joins the Lewis, 
or Snake, the great south branch of which will now be in like manner 
traced from its sources. 

The head -waters of the Lewis River are in the angle formed by the 
Rocky and the Snowy Mountains, between the 42d and the 44th degrees, 
near the sources of the Colorado, the Platte, the Yellow Stone, and the 
Missouri. Thence it flows westward along the foot of the Snowy Moun- 
tains to the Blue Mountains, through one ridge of which it passes near 
the 43d degree of latitude, making there the Salmon, or Fishing Falls. 
It then runs northwestward to its junction with the Columbia, receiving 
on its way the Malade, the Wapticacos, or north branch, and the Koos- 
koosee, or Salmon River, from the east, and the Malheur, the Burnt River, 
and Powder River from the west, besides numerous smaller streams on 
each side. The Salmon River is believed to be that on and near which 
the party sent from the United States, in 1811, to form an establishment 
at the mouth of the Columbia, experienced the dreadful sufferings de- 
picted by Mr. Irving in his Astoria. 

The Columbia, below the junction of its two great branches, receives 
the Walla-walla, the Umatalla, John Day's River, and the Falls River from 
the south, and then passes through the range of mountains nearest the 
Pacific, under the 46th parallel of latitude. At the mouth of the Walla- 
walla is Fort Walla-walla, or Nezperces, belonging to the Hudson's Bay 
Company, near which is some land tolerably well adapted for cultivation. 
Below this river the Columbia descends considerably, forming many rapids 
before entering the mountains. The Falls are represented by Wyeth as 
impassable at low water, but passable at high water both up and down. 
Five miles below them are the Dalles, or narrows, where the river rushes 
through a space not more than one hundred and fifty feet wide, walled in 
by basaltic columns on both sides ; and thirty-six miles lower, are the 
Cascades, which are falls impassable at all times. The tide comes up to 
the foot of the cascades, and the navigation is good for vessels drawing not 
more than fourteen feet to this point, which is one hundred and twenty- 
five miles from the ocean. 

At the distance of about one hundred miles from the Pacific, on the 
north side of the Columbia, and a quarter of a mile from it, stands Fort 



Vancouver, the principal establishment of the Hudson's Bay 
west of the Rocky Mountains. It consists of a number of wooden buila- 
ings within a stockade, serving as dwelling-houses, stores, magazines, 
and workshops ; and near it are other small buildings inhabited by the 
laborers, together with a saw-mill and grist-mill. The whole number of 
residents at the place is about eight hundred, of whom a lar^e proportion 
are Indians or half-breeds. Several hundred acres of land near the fort 
are under cultivation, producing wheat, barley, oats, pease, potatoes, &c. ? 
in abundance ; and the stock of cattle is also considerable. 

The Multonomah, or Wallamet, enters the Columbia in the south, 
about twenty miles below Vancouver. It is navigable for small vessels 
to the distance of twenty miles from its mouth — or, rather, from its 
mouths, for it divides into two branches before entering the Columbia, 
and thus forms a long narrow island, on which Captain Wyeth endeav- 
ored unsuccessfully to establish an American trading-factory in 1835. 
At the head of the navigation is a fall, where the river crosses a ridge of 
hills ; before reaching which, it flows through prairies of the richest 
ground, varying in breadth from a few feet to several miles. In this de- 
lightful valley the Hudson's Bay Company have formed a settlement for 
its retiring servants ; and another has been made by American citizens, 
under the direction of Methodist missionaries, which is said to be in a 
prosperous condition. A large body of emigrants to this place sailed from 
New York in the latter part of 1839; and other persons are said to be 
now in that city preparing for their departure for the same point. 

Astoria, the first settlement made on the Columbia by the Americans 
in 1811, is on the south side of the river, eight miles from its mouth; 
it consists at present of only a single house, occupied by the Hudson's 
Bay Company, and called Fort George. 

The Columbia, twenty-five miles from the sea, varies in width from 
seven miles to one, and that part of the river has been, in consequence, 
sometimes considered as a bay or inlet ; this view is, however, contradict- 
ed by the fact, that the water continues to be fresh and potable to the 
immediate vicinity of the Pacific, except when the stream is very low, or 
the wind has long blown violently from the west. The river enters the Pa- 
cific between two points of land : one, on the north, called Cape Disap- 
pointment, or Cape Hancock, in latitude of 46 degrees 18 minutes; the 
other, called Point Adams, being seven miles southeast from the former. 
From each of these points a sand-bar runs into the water ; above which 
the waves of the Pacific, on the one side, and the torrents of the Colum- 
bia, on the other, meet with terrific violence, producing a most formida- 
ble line of breakers. These circumstances render the entrance and de- 
parture of vessels hazardous at all times, and almost impossible when 
the winds are high. The depth of the water, between the bars, is thirty 
feet at the lowest ; no vessel drawing more than fourteen feet can, how- 
ever, proceed far up the river, on account of the irregularities of the 
channel. 

This river, like the others in Northwest America, abounds in fish, partic- 
ularly in salmon, which ascend all its branches up to the Blue Mountains, 
and form the principal means of subsistence for the natives of the first and 
middle regions. Of those natives, the limits of the present sketch do not 
admit a detailed description ; they are supposed to be in number about 
twenty thousand, all savages incapable of civilization. 



MEMOIR, 

HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL, 

ON THE 

NORTHWEST COAST OP NORTH AMERICA, 

AND 

THE ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 



CHAPTER I. 

Preliminary observations — Early attempls of the Spaniards to explore the western 
coasts of North America — Voyages made by authority of Hernan Cortes — Dis- 
covery of California by Becerra, in 1535— Voyage of Cortes in the Gulf of Cali- 
fornia — Discovery of the west coast of California by Ulloa, in 1539 — Expedi- 
tions of Coronado and Alarcon — Voyage of Cabrillo, in 1542 — Establishment ef 
direct intercourse by the Pacific, between Mexico and India — Visit of Francis 
Drake to the northwest coast in 1579, 

The territories first seen by Europeans on the western sidfe of 1493. 
the Atlantic were naturally supposed to be parts of Asia, or to lie 
in the immediate vicinity of that continent, the eastern limits of 
which were then unknown ; and, as the circumference of the 
earth was moreover, at that time, considered to be much less than 
it really is, hopes were entertained among the maritime nations 
of Europe that some route for their ships to India, safer and short- 
er than any around the southern extremity of Africa, would be 
speedily discovered. 

It was under the influence of such expectations that the uni- 1495. 
ted Spanish Sovereigns concluded with the King of Portugal the 
celebrated Treaty of Partition, founded on the bull issued in 1494, 
by Pope Alexander VI. Agreeably to this treaty, the Spaniards were 
to make no attempts to communicate with India by sea through 
eastern routes, which became in a manner the property of Portu- 
gal ; while, on the other hand, they were to possess exclusive 
control and use of every western channel of intercourse with 
those countries, which might be discovered. This and other im- 
portant questions of jurisdiction having been thus definitively 
settled between the two greatest maritime Powers of Europe, 
under the guaranty of the highest authority then recognised 
among civilized nations, each of the parties to the treaty contin- 
ued its researches within the limits assigned to it. 



C 174] 



22 



1493. In these examinations, the Portuguese were the mos. jg+ 
fill. They soon found their way by the Cape of Good Hope tc 
India, where they firmly established their pre-eminence; while 
the Spaniards were vainly exploring the Atlantic coasts of the 
New World, in search of some opening through which they might 
penetrate with their ships into the ocean bathing the southern 

1513. side of Asia. At length, in 1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the 
Governor of the Spanish colony of Darien, on the Atlantic, after a 
short march across the mountains overlooking that place, arrived 
on the shore of a sea, which was supposed to be no other than 
the long-sought Southern ocean ; and, as the proximity of this 
sea to the Atlantic was at the same time demonstrated, farther en- 
couragement was afforded for the hope that the two great waters 
would be found united in a position the most favorable for the 
prosecution of the desired objects. The researches of the Span- 
iards were, in consequence, directed particularly towards the isth- 
mus of Darien; and were conducted with zeal, until the fact of 
the entire separation of the oceans in that quarter was deter- 
mined. 

1519, In the mean time, however, Fernando Magalhaens, or Magel- 
lan, a Portuguese in the service of Spain, discovered the strait 
which has ever since borne his name, and, having passed through 
it with his ships, continued his voyage westward to India. The 
grand geographical question, as to the possibility of circumnaviga- 
ting the earth, was thus solved ; but not in a manner satisfactory 
to the Spaniards. The strait of Magellan was intricate, and be- 
set by dangers of every kind ; and it was itself almost as distant 
from Europe as India by the eastern route. Moreover, the sea in- 
tervening between the new continent and Asia proved to be 
much wider than had been supposed ; and, in eveiy part of it, 
which was traversed by vessels for many years after its discovery, 
the winds were found to blow constantly from eastern points. 

1520. These circumstances, as they successively became known, con- 
tributed to depress the hopes of the Spaniards, with regard to the 
establishment of their dominion in India ; other events, however, 
occurred at the same time, which consoled them in part for the 
disappointment, and fixed their attention upon the New World. 

1517 While Magellan's voyage was in progress, the rich and popu- 
lous empire of Mexico was discovered, and it was soon after con- 
quered by the Spaniards, under Hernan Cortes. Within the en- 
suing ten years Peru and Chili were likewise subjected to the 
authority of the Spanish monarch ; and the silver of America be- 
gan to be considered as ample compensation for the loss of the 
spices and diamonds of India. The brilliant results of these ex- 
traordinary enterprises attracted from Europe crowds of adventu- 
rers, all eager to acquire wealth and distinction by similar means, 
who, uniting in bands under daring leaders, traversed the new 
continent in various directions, seeking rich nations to plunder. 
Fortunately for the cause of humanity, these expeditions were 
fruitless, so far at least as regards the object for which they were 
undertaken ; on the other hand, much information was speedily 
acquired by means of them, respecting the geography of coasts 



23 



[ 174] 



* regions, which would not otherwise have been explored, per- 1517 
naps, for centuries. l « 

Among those who were at this period engaged in endeavoring 
to discover new kingdoms in America, and new passages be- 
tween the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the most zealous and per- 
severing was Hernan Cortes. Scarcely # had he effected the es- 
tablishment of the Spanish authority in Mexico, ere he com- 
menced preparations for exploring the adjacent seas and coun- 
tries; in expeditions of which nature he employed a great portion 
of his time, as well as of his private fortune, during the whole 
period of his residence in that kingdom. In prosecution of his 
plans, the interior, as well as the coasts on both sides of the region 
connecting Mexico with South America, were minutely explored, 
until it had been ascertained that no wealthy nations occupied 
those territories, and that the two seas were entirely separated by 
land throughout the whole extent. This arduous task having 
been accomplished, the enterprising conqueror of Mexico directed 
his attention towards the northwest. 

At that period, the most northern settlements of the Spaniards 
in the American continent were : on the Atlantic side, Panuco, 
situated near the spot now occupied by the town of Tampico, 
within a few miles of the Mexican Gulf ; and, on the Pacific, Cu- 
liacan, a small place near the eastern side of the entrance to the 
Gulf of California. Northward of these settlements, which were 
both in the vicinity of the tropic of Cancer, nothing was known 
of the continent, except with regard to some isolated portions of 
its eastern coasts. 

It should here be observed, that the accounts which have de- 
scended to us of all voyages performed before the middle of the last 
century, and of all Spanish voyages to a much more recent peri- 
od, are very defective, especially as regards geographical positions. 
Seldom, indeed, is it possible to identify a spot by means of the 
descriptions contained in those accounts. This arises, in the first 
place, from the circumstance that such narratives were usually 
written by priests, or other persons unacquainted with nautical 
matters, who paid little attention to latitudes and bearings. In 
the next place, the instruments employed in those days for deter- 
mining the altitudes and relative distances of heavenly bodies 
were so imperfect, both in plan and in execution, that observations 
made with them on land, and under the most favorable conditions 
of atmosphere, led to results which were far from accurate; while 
at sea, when there was much motion in the vessel, or the air was 
not absolutely clear, those instruments were useless. To these 
causes of error are to be added the want of proper methods of 
calculation, as well as of knowledge of various modifying circum- 
stances, such as refraction, aberration, &c. Hence, it followed 
that the statements of latitude, given in the accounts above men- 
tioned, are of little value as indicating the positions of places, and 
are at best only approximative; while those of longitude, being, 



* Letter of Cortes to Charles V., written from Mexico, in 1523. 



[ 174] 




1531. when given at all, deduced merely from the notes of the vessel's 
course and rate of sailing, are entirely worthless. It is scarcely 
necessary to add that this uncertainty as to the geographical sit- 
uations of places produced confusion with regard to names ; 
and, accordingly, we find that there are few remarkable spots on 
the northwest coast of America, discovered before the middle of 
the last century, which have not at different times been distin- 
guished by many different appellations. 

Respecting the voyages of discovery, made by order of Cortes 
in the Atlantic seas, little is to be found on record; and no notice 
of them is required for our present purposes. The first expedition, 
under his auspices, towards the northwest, took place in 1532, 
and terminated most disastrously. 

1532. This expedition was commanded by Diego Hurtado de Men- 
doza, a relation of Cortes, who sailed from Acapulco in a small 
ship, accompanied by another under Juan de Mazuela; they 
advanced together along the southwest coast of Mexico, as far 
north as the 27th degree of latitude, and were there separated by 
a storm : after which nothing more was heard of the vessel com- 
manded by Mendoza. The other ship, under Mazuela, was ob- 
liged, after the storm, to put back to the river of Culiacan, the 
nearest Spanish port, where she was deserted by the greater part 
of her crew. Those who remained then endeavored to carry her 
to Acapulco ; but she was stranded on the shore of the province 
of Jalisco, near the place where San Bias now stands; and her 
crew, with the exception of three, were murdered by the savages. 
The vessel was subsequently seized and rifled by Nuno de Guz- 
man, the chief of a roving band of adventurers, who, assuming 
the title of Governor of Jalisco, pretended to act for the Sovereign 
of Spain, independently of Cortes. 

1533. A year having elapsed after the departure of these vessels, with- 
out any news being received of them, Cortes despatched two 
others in the same direction, under Hernando de Grijalva and 
Diego de Becerra, who sailed together from Tehuantepec on the 
30th of October, 1533. 

Grijalva, being soon separated from his companion, took a west- 
ward course, and reached a group of small islands at the distance 
of a hundred and fifty miles from the main land, (now called the 
Revillagigedo islands^) after which he returned to Mexico, with- 
out having effected any other discovery. 

Meanwhile, Becerra, likewise sailing westward from Tehuan- 
tepec, found land almost immediately under the tropic of Cancer, 
and anchored in a small bay, where his men, having obtained 
some valuable pearls, became anxious to fix themselves for a time. 
This Becerra refused to permit; and he was preparing to continue 
his voyage, when a mutiny took place, in the course of which he 
was murdered, and the command was assumed by Fortunio Xim- 
enes, the pilot. In pursuance of their plan, the mutineers then 
landed, and began to construct habitations on the shore of the 
bay ; but, while thus engaged, they were surprised by a body of 
savages, who killed nearly the whole of them. The survivors 
escaped with the vessel, and succeeded in navigating her over to 



25 



[ 174 ] 



the little port of Chiametla, on the coast of Jalisco, where she was 1533. 
also seized by the lawless Nuno de Guzman. 

It may be mentioned, at once, that the land thus discovered by 
Becerra was the southern extremity of the peninsula of Califor- 
nia. The bay in which his ship was lying at the time of his as- 
sassination is supposed to be that now called the bay of La Paz, 
and sometimes the bay of San Jose. # 

When Cortes became assured of the seizure and spoliation of 1534. 
his vessels by Guzman, he prosecuted that person before the Au- 
diencia, or royal court of justice of Mexico, which immediately de- 
cided in his favor. The pretended Governor of Jalisco, however, 
proved refractory, and refused to make restitution ; whereupon, 
the conqueror assembled a body of troops, and marched at their 
head to Chiametla, in order to recover his vessels, and re-estab- 
lish his authority in that country. On his approach, Guzman 
fled, with his adherents, to the interior ; and Cortes having been 
joined at Chiametla, agreeably to his orders, by three vessels, de- 
termined to proceed with them in person to the new country dis- 
covered by Becerra in the west, which was said to be so rich in 
pearls and precious stones. 

He accordingly embarked with his forces at Chiametla, and on 1535. 
the 3d of May, the day of the Invention or Finding of the Holy April 15. 
Cross, agreeably to the Roman Catholic calendar, he reached the 
bay in which Becerra had been murdered. In honor of this day, 
the name of La Santa Cruz (the Holy Cross) was bestowed upon 
the country, as well as on the bay ; and possession having been 
solemnly taken of the whole in the name of the Sovereign of 
Spain, preparations were commenced for the establishment of a 
colony on the spot. These arrangements being completed, Cortes 
took his departure with two vessels, to examine the coasts of the 
new territory towards the north and east, for the purpose of as- 
suring himself whether or not it was united to the American con- 
tinent. 

Of the voyage made by Cortes in the arm of the sea between 
California and the continent, the accounts are so confused and 
contradictory that it is impossible to ascertain his route. It ap- 
pears, however, that, although he crossed this sea several times, 
he did not reach its northern extremity. After some time spent 
in this manner, during which his vessels were frequently in dan- 
ger of destruction from storms, and their crews were suffering 
from want of provisions, he at length returned to Santa Cruz, 
where he found the colonists in the utmost distress from famine 
and privations of all sorts. Under these circumstances, he re- 
solved to go back to Mexico, in order to procure supplies ; which 
he accordingly did, leaving the colony in charge of his lieutenant, 
Francisco de Ulloa. 

On arriving at Acapulco, in the beginning of 1536, Cortes learn- 1536. 
sd that, during his absence from Mexico, he had been superseded 



* The accounts of these voyages are derived from Herrera's History of the Span- 
ish Empire in America, and from Navarrete's Introduction to the Journal of the 
voyage of the Sutil and Mexicana. 



[174] 



£6 



1536. in the government of that country by Don Antonio de Mendoza, 
a nobleman of high rank, who had already made his entrance into 
the capital as Viceroy. The conqueror thus saw himself, in a 
moment, despoiled of his power, in the territory which had been, 
through his exertions, added to the Spanish dominions ; and the 
blow -was the more severe, as his private property had been al- 
most entirely expended in his endeavors to make new discove- 
ries. He was, however, not to be depressed by these difficulties ; 
and as he still possessed the right, in his quality of Admiral of the 
South Sea, to prepare and despatch vessels upon the Pacific, he 
immediately resolved to engage in another expedition towards the 
northwest, where he hoped to find the means of retrieving his 
fortunes. He accordingly recalled Ulloa and the colonists from 
Santa Craz ; and having with difficulty succeeded in raising the 
necessary funds, he equipped three ships for the contemplated 
voyage, which was not commenced until 1539. 
1539, The command of this expedition was intrusted to Francisco de 
Ulloa, Cortes being obliged to remain at Mexico in order to at- 
tend to some important suits at law, in which he had become in- 
jury 8. volved. Ulloa quitted Acapulco on the 8th of July, 1539, and, 
after losing one of his ships in a storm near the coast of Culiacan, 
he sailed with the two others towards the west, as far as the har- 
Sept. 7. bor of Santa Cruz, which, as well as the surrounding country, 
began by this time to be called California* To ascertain the 
extent of this country, and whether it was connected with Amer- 
ica or with Asia, or was detached from both those continents, 
were the first objects of the voyage; in pursuance of which, the 
Spanish navigator directed his course from Santa Cruz northward, 
through the arm of the ocean separating California from the main 
land of Mexico on the east. In this course he proceeded, exam- 
ining both shores, until he had convinced himself that the two 
territories were united near the 33d degree of latitude. He then 
Oct. 18. returned southward to Santa Cruz, through the same arm of the 
ocean, to which he gave the appropriate name of Mar de Cortes, 
(Sea of Cortes.) This great gulf has since received a variety of 
appellations, of which that principally used by the Spaniards is 
Mar Vermejo, (Vermillion Sea.) Among all other nations, it is 
known as the Gulf of California. 

Having thus ascertained the continuity of California with Amer- 
ica in the northeast, Ulloa next proceeded to examine the western 
sides of the new country. With this view, he sailed from the 
Oct. 29. harbor of Santa Cruz, around the southern extremity of the land 
which is now called Cape San Lucas ; thence he advanced along 
Nov. 7. the coast, northward, straggling almost constantly against the vi- 
olent northwest winds which prevail in that part of the Pacific, 

M 154 °2' untii he reaciieci uie 30th degree °f latitude. By the time of his 
1 ar " ' arrival at that parallel, many of the men in both vessels were dis- 
abled by sickness, and the stock of provisions was much reduced ; 



* With regard to the origin or the signification of the word California, many spec- 
ulations have been offered, none of which are either satisfactory or ingenious. 



= " %I ' [ 174} 

in consequence of which, it was determined that one of the ves- 1540. 
sels should go back to Mexico, carrying the sick and the news of 
their discoveries, while Ulloa should remain in the other for the 
purpose of examining the coast still farther. The necessary ar- 
rangements having been accordingly made, the two vessels parted April 5. 
at the Isle of Cedars, (now called Isla de Cerros, or Isle of Moun- 
tains,) situated near the coast, in the 28th degree of latitude. The 
vessel called the Santa Agueda, bearing the sick and the des- 
patches, reached Acapulco in safety before the end of May, 1540. 
Whether or not Ulloa ever returned to Mexico, is not known with 
certainty.* Thus terminated the last expedition of discovery made 
by authority of Hernan Cortes. 

In the mean time, the Viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, who 
succeeded Cortes in the government of Mexico, had also become 
interested in the examination of the coasts and countries north of 
that kingdom ; his attention having been thus directed by the ac- 
counts of some persons who had made a long and toilsome pere- 
grination across those regions. 

These persons, Alvaro Nunez, (better known in history as Ca- 1527 to 
beza Vaca, or Bull-head,) two other Spaniards, and a negro, had 1536. 
landed, in 1527, near Tampa Bay, in East Florida, among the 
adventurers under Panfilo Narvaez, who invaded that country in 
search of mines or nations to plunder ; and after the destruction 
of their comrades by starvation, shipwreck, and the arrows of the 
savages, had wandered for nine years through forests and deserts, 
until, at length, they reached Culiacan, near the Gulf of Califor- 
nia, in 1536. Although these adventurers had themselves seen 
no signs of cultivation or wealth in the territories thus traversed, 
yet they had received from the savages, on their way, many con- 
fused accounts of rich and populous kingdoms situated still far- 
ther northward ; and the Viceroy, having heard their statements, 
thought proper to endeavor to ascertain the truth of the reports. 
For this purpose he was induced, by the advice and solicitation 
of his friend, the celebrated Bartolome de las Casas, to employ 
two Franciscan friars, in place of the soldiers who were usually 
sent on such expeditions ; in order that the natives might be in this 
manner preserved from the violence which military men would 
not fail to exercise, if opportunity should be offered for the grat- 
ification of their cupidity. 

The friars, Marcos de Niza and Honorato, with the negro who 1539. 
had accompanied Cabeza Vaca, and some Indians, accordingly 
departed from Culiacan on the 7th of March, 1539. What route Mar - 
they took it is impossible now to discover. The reverend explor- 
ers, however, returned before the end of the year, (without the 
negro,) bringing accounts of countries which they had visited in 
the northwest, abounding in gold and precious stones, and in- 



* Our knowledge of Ulloa's voyage is derived chiefly from the narrative of Fran- 
cisco Preciado, one of the officers of the Santa Agueda, which is interesting, though 
by no means exact. It may be found in Italian, in the Collection of Ramusio, vol. ili, 
page 2S3 ; and in English, though badly translated, in the reprint of Hakluyt, vol. iii, 
page 503. 3 ' F 



[174] 



28 



1539. habited by a population more numerous and more civilized than 
either Mexico or Peru. 

According to the letter* addressed to the Viceroy by friar Mar- 
cos, upon his return, these rich and delightful countries were sit- 
uated beyond the 35th degree of latitude, in the vicinity of the 
sea, and were separated from those previously known to the Span- 
iards by extensive tracts of forest and desert, through which it 
would be necessary to pass in order to reach the golden region. 
The friar describes with minuteness his route, as well as the sit- 
uation, extent, and divisions of the new countries ; dwelling par- 
ticularly on the magnificence and greatness of a city called Cibola, 
the capital of a province of the same name, which he describes as 
containing more than twenty thousand large stone houses, all 
richly adorned with gold and jewels. The people of this place, 
as the letter says, were at first hostile to the strangers, and had 
killed the negro ; but, in the end, they had evinced a disposition 
to embrace Christianity, and to submit to the authority of Spain; 
in consequence of which, the friars had secretly taken possession 
of the whole country for their Sovereign, by setting up crosses in 
various parts. 

These, and other things of the like nature, gravely related by ec- 
clesiastics, who professed to have witnessed what they described, 
were admitted as true by the Viceroy ; and he accordingly pre- 
pared, without delay, to conquer these new countries, which were 
considered as belonging of right to his Catholic Majesty, as well 
as to convert their inhabitants to Christianity. For these pur- 
poses, he raised a body of soldiers and missionaries, who were to 
pursue the route described by friar Marcos, under the command, 
of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, the governor of the territory 
immediately north of Mexico, called New Gallicia. At the same 
time, in order, if there should be occasion, to support these forces, 
a small squadron was sent along the western coast, towards the 
north, under the direction of Fernando de Alarcon. 

Cortes also claimed the right, as Admiral of the South Sea, to 
attempt the conquest of these countries by means of a naval ar- 
mament; and a violent dispute in consequence arose between the 

1540. two chiefs. The conqueror, however, had expended all his dis- 
posable funds upon the equipment of the shipsf which he had 
sent out under Ulloa, before the return of friar Marcos from the 
north ; and he had, therefore, only to console himself with the 
hope that those vessels might accidentally have reached the shores 
of the golden land before its invasion by the forces of the Vice- 
roy. In this expectation he was disappointed, as already shown. 
This extraordinary man, soon after the conclusion of Ulloa's voy- 
age, returned to Spain, where he passed the remaining seven 
years of his life in vain efforts to procure restitution of his prop- 



* See Ranmsio. vol. iii, page 297: and Hakluyt, vol. iii, page 438. 

t Herrera says that Ulloa was sent by Cortes to subdue the countries discovered 
by friar Marcos. This is, however, an error, if the dates given by him and the other 
historians of that period be correct. 



29 



[174] 



erty and honors, in the vast and valuable dominions which he 1540. 
had rendered subject to the crown of Castile. 

# Fernando de Alarcon, the commander of the naval forces sent 
by Mendoza for the conquest of Cibola, sailed from the harbor of 
Santiago, on the west coast of Mexico, with two ships of war, and May 9. 
advanced northward along that coast to the extremity of the Cal- 
ifornian gulf, where he found the entrance of a large and rapid 
river. Having embarked, with a portion of his crew, in boats, Aug. 26. 
upon this river, to which he gave the name of Nuestra Senora de 
Buena Ghtia, (Our Lady of Safe Conduct,) he ascended one of its 
branches, (probably that now called the Colorado,) to the distance 
of eighty leagues from its mouth. Throughout this whole dis- 
tance he found the stream broad and rapid, and the country on 
either side rich and thickly peopled, though occupied only by 
savages. In reply to the inquiries made by him respecting Coro • 
nado's party, and the rich territories of which they were m search, 
he received a number of confused stories of kingdoms abounding 
in gold and precious stones, and inhabited by civilized nations ; 
of rivers filled with crocodiles ; of droves of buffaloes ; of enchant- 
ers, and other wonderful or remarkable objects. At the extrem- 
ity of his course up the river, he received what he considered def- 
inite information respecting Cibola, and was even assured that 
he might reach that country by a march of ten days into the in- 
terior. He, however, suspected some treachery on the part of 
those who gave such assurances ; and fearing lest he should be 
cut off in case he proceeded farther onwards, he descended the 
river to his ships, and returned to Mexico before the end of the 
year. His report to the Viceroy displays great self-conceit, and 
violent animosity against Cortes and Ulloa. Mendoza was, how- 
ever, so little satisfied with his conduct, that he was, immediately 
after his return, dismissed from the service. 

The land forces sent under Coronado exhibited much greater 
perseverance in their search for the rich kingdoms believed to be 
situated in the northwestern part of America. According to the 
letter of their general ,f who appears to have been a person of so- 
ber and resolute character, this body of soldiers and priests, after 
leaving Culiacan, followed the route described by the two friars, April 0-2, 
and found the forests and deserts mentioned in their narrative. 
Having toiled through these dreary regions, however, they had 
ample cause to distrust the other statements of the reverend dis- 
coverers. They indeed reached a country called Cibola, situa- August, 
ted nearly in the position assigned by the missionaries to their 
golden land ; but they there saw before them only a half-culti- 
vated territory, thinly inhabited by a people not absolutely bar- 
barous, but yet entirely destitute of that wealth and refinement 
which had been attributed to them in the reports made to the 
Viceroy. The magnificent cities were small Indian villages, the 



* Letter of Alarcon to the Viceroy, in Ramusio, vol. iii, page 303 ; and in Hakluyt, 
vol. iii, page 505. 
t Ramusio, vol. iii, page 300 ; Hakluyt, vol. iii, page 447. 



[174] 



30 



1540. largest not containing more than two hundred houses ; and the 
immense quantities of precious metals and stones dwindled down 
into " a few turquoises" and " some little gold and silver , supposed 
to he good." In fine, as Coronado says in his despatch written 
from Cibola, " the reverend, father provincial had told the truth in 
nothing ivhich he said respecting kingdoms, provinces, and cities, 
in this region ; for we have found all quite the contrary" 

The Spaniards, although they were thus disappointed in their 
hopes of plunder, yet did not like to return empty-handed to Mex- 
ico, and petitioned their leader to allow them to settle in Cibola, 
which was a pleasant and agreeable country. To this request, 
however, Coronado would not assent ; and he could only be pre- 
vailed on to continue the march northward for some time longer, 
in search of other rich countries, which were said by the people 
of Cibola to lie in that direction. Of the remainder of their jour- 
ney after quitting Cibola, we have a very imperfect account. It 
appears that they rambled for two years through the region be- 
tween the Pacific and the great dividing chain of mountains, de- 
riving their subsistence chiefly from the flesh of the buffaloes, 
which were there found in large numbers. The northern limit 

1541. of their wanderings was a country called by them Quivira, near 
the ocean, and under the 40th degree of latitude, inhabited by a 
kind and intelligent people, from whom the Spaniards learned 
that the coasts were occasionally visited by ships laden with rich 
goods and adorned with gilded images.* With information of 

154-2. this nature the adventurers returned to Mexico in 1542, to the 
great disappointment of Mendoza, who doubtless expected more 
real results from the labor and expense bestowed by him on the 
equipment and pay of the body. 

1541. Before the return of Coronado 's party from the north west,f the 
Viceroy had prepared another naval armament, which was to pro- 
ceed in that direction, from one of the ports on the Pacific, under 
the command of Pedro de Alvarado, one of the most celebrated he- 
roes of the conquest. But, just as it was about to depart, a rebellion 
broke out among the Indians of the province of Jalisco ; and the 
forces which had been assembled for the expedition on the ocean 
were all required to re-establish the Spanish authority in the dis- 
turbed territories. In the course of the campaign which ensued, Al- 
varado was killed by a kick from his horse ; and the difficulties in 
Jalisco continuing, Mendoza could not carry into effect his views 
with regard to the countries northwest of Mexico until the fol- 
lowing year. 

1542 The disturbances in Mexico having beenj at length quieted, 
two of the vessels which had been prepared for the expedition to 
the North Pacific were placed under the command of Juan Ro- 
driguez de Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator of considerable rep- 
June 27. utation at that day. These vessels sailed together from the port 



* In this account there is nothing improbable. Japanese vessels have been found 
upon the northwest coasts of America twice :-ince 1814. 

t Heirem, decade 7, book 2, chapter 11. i Herrera, decade 7, book 5, chapter 3. 



31 



[ 174] 



of Navidad, in Jalisco ; and, after a short passage, reached the har- 1542. 
bor of Santa Cmz, whence they proceeded around Cape San Lu- July 2. 
cas, in order to explore the west coast of California, which had 
been discovered two years before by Francisco de Ulloa. With- 
out attempting to trace minutely the progress of Cabrillo along 
this coast, or to enumerate the various bays, capes, and islands 
visited by him, scarcely any of which can now be identified, suf- 
fice it to say that, by the middle of November, he had advanced Nov. 15. 
as far north as the 40th degree of latitude ; having been, like Ul- 
loa, incessantly opposed by violent northwesterly winds. From 
this height the Spaniards were driven back to a harbor, which 
they had before entered and named Port Possession, supposed to be 
in the small island of San Bernardo, near the main land under the 
34th parallel. Here Cabrillo sunk under the fatigues to which he 1543 - 
had been subjected, and died, leaving the command of the ships an ' ' 
to the pilot, Bartolome Ferrer, or Ferrelo. i 

The new commander, being no less enterprising than his prede- 
cessor, resolved, if possible, to attain some of the objects of the 
expedition before returning to Mexico. He accordingly sailed 
from Port Possession ; and, after having been several times driven 
back, at length, on the 1st of March, he found himself, by obser- March 1. 
vation, in the 44th degree of latitude. Here the crews of both 
vessels were suffering from cold, fatigue, and want of proper nour- 
ishment ; in consequence of which, it was resolved that the at- 
tempt to proceed farther northward should be abandoned. Agree- 
ably to this resolution, the navigators directed their course to- 
wards the south, and arrived in safety at Navidad on the 14th of 
April, 1543. 

It is not easy, from the accounts which we possess, to ascertain 
precisely what was the most northern point on the American 
coast seen by the Spaniards in this expedition. Navarre te, # after 
examining the journals and other papers relating to the voyage, 
which are still preserved in the Archives of the Indies, pronounces 
that the 43d parallel of latitude is to be considered as the north- 
ern limit of the discoveries made by Cabrillo and Ferrelo. The 
same writer has also remarked, that the latitudes assigned in those 
documents to all the places visited by the ships, which can now 
be identified, are about a degree and a half too high. Conforma- 
bly with this observation, it would appear that a promontory, 
named by Ferrelo the Cape of Risks, ( Cabo de Fortunas,) in 
commemoration of the perils encountered in its vicinity, may be 
that situated in the latitude of 40 degrees 20 minutes, which after- 
wards received the name of Cape Mendocino. 

While the expeditions thus made under the authority of the 1538 
Viceroy Mendoza were in progress, Hernando de Soto and his 
band of adventurers were performing their celebrated marchf 
through the region north of the Mexican Gulf, which was then 
known by the general name of Florida. Without attempting to 



* Introduction to the Journal of the Sutil and Mexicana, page 34. 
tThere are several accounts of this expedition ; among which, the best known are 
those by Garcilasso de la Vega, and by an anonymous Portuguese. 



[174] 



32 



1538 delineate the course of their wanderings, suffice it to say that 
to they traversed, in various directions, the vast territories now com- 
' posing the southern and southwestern States of the American 
Union, and then descended the Mississippi from a point near the 
mouth of the Ohio to the Gulf, over which they made their way in 
boats to Panuco. From the accounts of the few who survived 
the fatigues and perils of this enterprise, added to those of Alvaro 
Nunez and Yasquez de Coronado respecting the countries which 
they had severally visited, it was considered absolutely certain 
that neither wealthy nations nor navigable passages between the 
Atlantic and the Pacific oceans were to be found north of Mexico, 
unless beyond the 40th degree of latitude. Having arrived at 
this conclusion, the Spaniards desisted from their efforts to ex- 
plore the northwest division of America, and did not renew them 
until nearly fifty years afterwards. In the mean time, circum- 
stances had occurred which served to show that the discovery of 
any means of facilitating the entrance of ships from Europe into 
the Pacific would be deleterious to the interests of Spain in the 
New World. 

Before the middle of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese had 
established their dominion over a large portion of the coasts and 
islands of the East Indies, between which and Europe they were 
carrying on an extensive and valuable trade by way of the Cape 
of Good Hope. The Spaniards, in the mean time, viewing with 
feelings of jealousy and vexation this advancement of the power 
and wealth of their rivals, had endeavored likewise to obtain a 
footing in southern Asia, for which purpose naval armaments had 
been despatched thither from Spain, through the straits of Magel- 
lan, and also from the ports of Mexico on the Pacific. These 
expeditions had, however, proved unsuccessful. The squadron 

1542. sent from Mexico in 1542, under Admiral Yillalobos, crossed the 
Pacific in safety, and reached the group of islands, since called 
the Philippines, of which possession was taken for the King of 
Spain. The forces of Villalobos were, however, soon dispersed, 
and none of his vessels returned to Mexico. 

1584. In 1564 the Spaniards made another effort to establish them- 
selves in the East Indies, the issue of which was more fortunate. 
The Philippine islands were in that year entirely subjugated 
by Miguel de Legaspi, who had been sent for the purpose with a 
squadron from the port of Navidad, on the west coast of Mexico; 
moreover, a discovery was effected during this expedition, which 
proved highly important, and without which, indeed, the other 
results would have been of little value. Until that period, no one 
had ever crossed the Pacific from Asia to America; all who had at- 
tempted to make such a voyage having endeavored to sail di- 
rectly westward, through the part of the ocean lying between the 
tropics, where the winds blow constantly from eastern points. 
Three of Legaspi's ships, however, by taking a northeastern 
course from the Philippines, entered a region of variable winds, 
and were thus enabled to reach the vicinity of the California!! 
coast, about the 40th parallel of latitude, from which the prevail- 
ing northwesters soon carried them to Mexico. 



33 



[ 174] 



The Spaniards thus gained — what they had so long desired — 1564 
a position in the East Indies ; and all doubts as to the practica- jj.° g 
bility of communication with those countries, by means of the 
Pacific, were completely dissipated. Various other obstacles to 
the navigation of that ocean being in like manner removed about 
the same period, the commercial intercourse between the Spanish 
provinces in America and in Asia rapidly increased. Large ships 
sailed regularly from Acapulco, laden with precious metals and 
European merchandise, for Manilla and Macao, from which places 
they brought back the silks and spices of the Indies, either for 
consumption in Mexico, or for transportation to Spain ; while an 
extensive trade in articles no less valuable was carried on be- 
tween Panama and the ports of Chili and Peru. The voyages 
made for these purposes were in general long, but comparatively 
safe; and as the Pacific was for some years free from all intru- 
sion on the part of other nations, little care or cost was bestowed 
upon the defence of the vessels, or of the towns on the coast. 

The ships proceeding from Acapulco to Manilla were carried, 
by the invariable easterly or trade winds, directly across the ocean, 
to their port ; in returning, they frequently made the land on the 
northwest coast of America, the most prominent points of which 
thus became, in the course of time, tolerably well known. The 
accounts of two or three of these return voyages have been pre- 
served; but the information obtained from them is of little use, in 
consequence of their want of exactness. In Hakluy t's Collection 
may be found a letter,* addressed in 1584 to the Yiceroy of Mex- 1584, 
ico, by Francisco Gali, or Gualle, containing a description of his 
passages from Acapulco to Macao, and thence back to Acapulco; 
on which letter great stress is laid by Navarrete and other wri- 
ters, as showing the extent of Spanish discoveries in the North 
Pacific during the sixteenth century. Gali there relates that he 
left Macao on the 24th of July, 1584, and, proceeding by the 
usual northern route, reached the American coast, in sight of 
which he sailed for a long distance before arriving at Acapulco. 
Where he first saw the land of America, the letter does not pre- 
cisely state. After describing his course from the vicinity of Ja- 
pan, east and east-by-north, he says : " Being by the same course, 
upon the coast of New Spain, under seven-and-thirty degrees and 
a half, we passed a very high and fair land, with many trees, 
wholly without snow, &c. From thence, we ran southeast, 
southeast-by-south, and southeast-by-east, as we found the wind, 
to the point called el Cabo de San Lucas, which is the beginning 
of the land of California on the northwest side, lying under two 
and twenty degrees, being five hundred leagues distant from Cape 
Mendocino." No mention is made of any land seen north of 37 \ 
degrees ; Navarrete, and after him Humboldt, however, insist that 
Gali reached the vicinity of the American continent, under the 
parallel of fifty -seven and a half degrees; and that the first land 



* Vol. iii, page 526, of the reprint. The letter is "translated out of Spanish into 
Dutch, verbatim, by John Huyghen Van Linschoten," and from Dutch into English. 



[ 174] 



34 



1584. seen by him was the western side of the largest island of King 
George the Third's group. This assertion is supported by no ev- 
idence ; and is irreconcilable with the account given by the nav- 
igator in his letter, the genuineness of which is not denied.* 

1595. Torquemada, in his History of the Indian Monarchy, (vol. i, 
page 717,) mentions the voyage of a ship called the San Augus- 
tin along the western side of California, in 1595, under the com- 
mand of Sebastian Rodriguez Cermenon, who had been directed 
to examine the coast in search of a place suitable for the estab- 
lishment of a colony and marine depot; nothing, however, is 
stated respecting the course of the ship, except that she was lost 
in the bay of San Francisco. We have accounts of two or three 
other visits made by Europeans to this part of America during the 
sixteenth century, which will be noticed hereafter. 

1560 While the commerce of the Spaniards in the Pacific was thus 
to increasing, their Government was adopting those measures of re- 

15/8. striction and exclusion, which were maintained with so little re- 
laxation during the whole remaining period of its supremacy in 
the American continent. The great object of its policy was to 
secure to the monarch and people of Spain the entire and perpet- 
ual enjoyment of all the advantages which could be derived from 
the territories claimed by them in virtue of the Papal cession of 
1493; and, with that view, it was considered absolutely necessary, 
not only to prevent the establishment of foreigners in any part of 
those territories, but also to discourage the rapid advancement of 
the Spanish provinces themselves in population, wealth, or other 
resources. Agreeably to these ideas, the settlement, and even the 
exploring of new countries in America, were restrained ; colonies 
were rarely allowed to be planted near the coasts, unless they 
might serve for purposes of defence; and when voyages or jour- 
neys of discovery were made, the results were generally concealed 
by the Government. The subjects of all foreign nations were 
prohibited, under pain of death, from touching the section of the 
New World supposed to belong to Spain, or from navigating the 
seas in its vicinity. 

Against these excluding regulations, the English, after they had 
thrown off their allegiance to the head of the Roman Catholic 
church, began first to murmur, and then to act. Their Govern- 
ment required from that of Spain an acknowledgment of their 
rights to occupy vacant portions of America, and to trade with 
such as were already settled ; and these demands having been re- 
fused, Queen Elizabeth did not hesitate to encourage her subjects, 
openly as well as secretly, to violate laws which she declared to 



* The only authorities with regard to Gali's voyage, cited by Navarrete, in addi- 
tion to the letter from the navigator contained inHakluyt, are two letters addressed 
by the Viceroy of Mexico to the King of Spain in 1585'; the originals of which are 
preserved in the Archives of the Indies. These two letters are merely mentioned in 
a note. The account of the voyage given by Navarrete is, however, with the ex- 
ception of the difference as to the highest degree of latitude reached by Gali, pre- 
cisely the same as that contained in Hakluyt. Humboldt, as usual, copies Navar- 
rete in all things relating to the discovery of the northwest coast. The question is 
of no importance at present. 



35 



[ 174] 



be unjustifiable and inhuman. The Gulf of Mexico and the West 1563 
Indian seas were, in consequence, soon haunted by bands of da- to 
ring English, who, under the equivocal denominations of free- ' 
traders and freebooters, set at defiance all prohibitions with re- 
gard to commerce or territorial occupation, and frequently plun- 
dered the ships of the Spaniards, as well as the towns on their 
coasts. About the same time, the French Protestants began their 
attempts to form settlements in Florida; and the revolt in the 
Netherlands, which terminated in the freedom of the Dutch prov- 
inces, shortly after produced a formidable increase in the number 
of these irregular foes to the supremacy of Spain. 

The Pacific was for some years preserved from such hostile 
invasions by the dread of the difficulties and dangers of the pas- 
sage through the straits of Magellan ; and the Spaniards began to 
regard as bulwarks of defence those obstacles to communication 
between Europe and the western side of America, which they 
had previously been so desirous to remove or counteract. The 
reports of the extent and value of the trade in the Pacific, and of 
the riches accumulated at various places in its vicinity, did not, 
however, fail in time to overcome all apprehensions on the part 
of the English,* whose ships at length, in 15TS, appeared upon 1578, 
that ocean, under the command of the most able and adventurous 
naval captain of the age. It is scarcely necessary to say that this 
captain was Francis Drake. As he is generally supposed to have, 
during the voyage here mentioned, effected important discover- 
ies on the northwest coasts of America, it will be proper to notice 
his movements in that quarter of the world particularly ; and to 
determine, if possible, how far such suppositions are based upon 
authentic proofs. The most material facts on the subject, as col- 
lected from the only original evidencef which has yet been made 
public, are the following : 

Francis Drake sailed from Plymouth in December, 1577, with 1577, 
five small vessels, which had been procured and armed by him- Dec - 13 
self and other private individuals in England, ostensibly for a 
voyage to Egypt, but really for a predatory cruise against the do- 
minions and subjects of Spain. The Governments of England 
and Spain were then, indeed, at peace with each other; but mu- 
tual hatred, arising from causes already alluded to, prevailed be- 
tween the two nations, and the principles of general law or mor- 
als were not at that period so refined as to prevent Queen Eliz- 
abeth from favoring Drake's enterprise, with the real objects of 
which she was doubtless well acquainted. 

For some months after leaving England, Drake roved about the 1578 * 
Atlantic, without making any prize of value ; and then, having 
refitted his ships on the eastern coast of Patagonia, he succeeded 



, * The first attack made by the English on the Spaniards, in the'Pacific, took place 
m 1575. In that year, a party of freebooters, headed by their captain, John Oxen- 
nam, crossed the isthmus of Panama, and built a vessel on the south side, in which 
they made several valuable prizes; they, however, at length fell into the hands of 
their enemies, and were a!l, with the exception, of five boys, put to death at Panama, 
t See Appendix A to this memoir. 



36 



^1578. in conducting three of them safely through the dreaded straits of 
ept. 5. Magellan, m { 0 the Pacific. Scarcely, however, was this accom- 
plished, ere the little squadron was dispersed by a storm; and the 
chief of the expedition was left with only a schooner of a hun- 
dred tons burden, and about sixty men, to prosecute his enter- 
prise against the power and wealth of the Spaniards on the west- 
ern side of America. 

December. Notwithstanding these disheartening occurrences, Drake did 
not hesitate to proceed to the parts of the coast occupied by the 
Spaniards, whom he found unprepared to resist him either on land 
or on sea. He accordingly plundered their towns and ships with 
little difficulty ; and so deep and lasting was the impression pro- 
duced by his achievements, that, for more than a century after- 
wards, his name was never pronounced in those countries with- 
out exciting feelings of horror and detestation. 
1579. At length, in the spring of 1579, having completed his visita- 
April. ti on 0 f the American coast by the plunder of the town of Guatul- 
co, near Acapulco in Mexico, Drake considered it most prudent to 
direct his course towards England ; and, fearing that he might be 
intercepted by the Spaniards if he should attempt to repass the 
straits of Magellan, he determined to cross the Pacific to the East 
Indies, and thence to continue his voyage around the Cape of 
Good Hope, to his country. With this view, he left Guatulco on 
the 16th of April; but,,instead of proceeding directly westward, 
which would have been his true line of navigation, he, for some 
reason not clearly shown in the accounts of his expedition, sailed 
towards the north, and on the 2d of June following had reached 
the 42d parallel of latitude. There his men began to suffer from 
cold ; and his farther progress appeared to be difficult, if not im- 
possible, on account of the violence and constancy of the north- 
west winds. Under these circumstances, (whether from accident 
or intentionally is not certain,) he fell in with the American coast, 
and anchored near it. The place, however, proving insecure, 
he quitted it without landing, and sailed along the shore to the 
south, until he found a safe and commodious harbor about the 
38th degree of latitude, in which he remained with his vessel 

June 17 fr° m tne 17 tn of June to the 23d of July, 
to This period was spent by the English in repairing their vessel, 

July 23. and making other arrangements for the long voyage in prospect. 
The natives of the surrounding country, who came in crowds to 
the shore of the harbor, at first exhibited signs of hostile inten- 
tions. They were, however, soon conciliated by the kind and 
forbearing conduct of the strangers ; and their respect for Drake 
increased to such an extent, that, when they saw him about to de- 
part, they earnestly entreated him to remain among them as their 
king. The naval hero, though not disposed to undertake in per- 
son the duties of sovereignty over a tribe of naked savages, nev- 
ertheless " thought meet not to reject the crown ; because he knew 
not what honor and profit it might bring to his own country. 
Wherefore, in the name and to the use of her Majesty Q,ueen 
Elizabeth, he took the sceptre, crown, and dignity of the country 
into his hands ; wishing that the riches and treasure thereof might 



37 



I 174 ] 



so conveniently be transported for the enriching of her kingdom 1579. 
at home." The investiture accordingly took place with due cer- 
emony; Drake bestowing upon the country thus legitimately 
added to the English dominions the name of New Albion, and 
erecting on the shore of the bay a monument with an inscrip- 
tion commemorative of the transfer. 

The preparations for continuing the voyage having been com- 
pleted, Drake quitted his new made fellow-subjects, to their great 
regret, on the 23d of July, and, steering directly across the Pa- July 23. 
cific, reached the vicinity of the Philippine Islands in sixty-eight Sept. 30. 
days ; thence he pursued his course through the Indian seas, and 
around the southern extremity of Africa into the Atlantic, and 
arrived in England, with his booty undiminished, on the 25th of 1580. 
September, 1580. ^ ^ 

With regard to the harbor on the northwest coast of America, 
in which the English repaired their vessel, nothing can be learned 
from the original accounts of their expedition, except that it was 
situated between the 38th and the 39th parallels of latitude ; and 
that a group of small islands was found in the ocean, at a short 
distance from its mouth : whence we are led to conclude that 
it was either the Bay of Sa?t Francisco, or another bay a few 
miles farther north, now called Port Bodega, to each of which this 
description applies. As to the extent of the portion of that coast 
seen by Drake, the accounts are at variance. In the earliest and 
apparently the most authentic relations and notices of his voyage, 
the 43d degree of latitude is given as the northern limit of his 
course in the Pacific; while in others, of later date, and more 
questionable authority, it is maintained that he examined the 
whole shore of the continent from the 48th parallel to the 38th, 
Burney, in his History of Discoveries in the Pacific, (vol. i, page 
356,) has devoted several pages to the subject. He there pro- 
nounces that " the part of the American coast discovered by Drake 
is to be reckoned as beginning immediately north of Cape Mendo- 
cino, and extending to the 48th degree of north latitude and this 
opinion has been since almost universally adopted. There are, how- 
ever, strong reasons for rejecting the decision of Burney, whose re- 
view of the evidences in this, as in all cases in which his coun- 
trymen were concerned, is entirely ex parte. An exposition of 
these reasons would require more space than could be with propri- 
ety allotted to it in the body of this history ; it has therefore been 
consigned to the Appendix, [A,] and the conclusion only will be 
here presented, which is : that in all probability, the English un- 
der Drake, in 15T9, saw no part of the west coast of America north 
of the 43 d degree of latitude, to ivhich parallel it had been discov- 
ered, by Cabrillo and Ferrelo, in 1543. 

The success of Drake's enterprise encouraged other English 1580. 
adventurers to attempt similar expeditions through the Strait of 
Magellan ; and it likewise served to stimulate the navigators of 
that nation, in their efforts to discover northern passages of com- 
munication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Of their 
predatory excursions, none appear to have been attended with 
success, except that of the celebrated Thomas Cavendish, or Can- 



[ W4] 



38 



1587. dish, who, during his circumnavigation of the globe, rendered 
his name almost as terrible to the Spaniards as that of Drake, by 
his ravages on the western coasts of America. In this voyage, 
Candish lay for some time near Cape San Lucas, the southern- 
N&v. 15. most point of California, and there captured the Santa Anna, a 
Spanish ship, richly laden, on her way from Manilla to Acapulco, 
which he set on fire after plundering her and landing her crew 
on the coast. The miserable persons, thus abandoned in a des- 
ert country, must soon have perished, had not the hull of their 
vessel, after the extinction of the fire by the waves, been driven 
on shore in their vicinity ; this carcass they contrived to repair, 
so as to render it sea- worthy, and, embarking in it, they succeeded 
in reaching a Mexican port. Among them was Juan de Fuca, a 
Greek pilot, of whose subsequent discoveries on the northwest 
coast of America an account will be given in the next following 
chapter. 



39 



CHAPTER II. 

Fabulous or uncertain accounts of voyages in the north Pacific — Apprehensions of 
the Spanish Government with regard to the discovery of northern passages be- 
tween the Atlantic and the Pacific— Voyages of Fuca in 1592, and Vizcaino, in 
1602— Establishments of the Jesuits in California — First colonies planted by the 
Spaniards on the western side of California, between 1769 and 1774. 

During the latter years of the sixteenth and the first of the sev- 1575 
enteenth centuries, the navigators of England were engaged in *^ 
exploring the northwestern coasts of the Atlantic, in hopes of dis- 
covering some passage through which they might enter the Pa- 
cific, with less difficulty and loss of time than by sailing around 
the southern extremity of America. The Spanish Government 
was, as the historians of that period fully testify, much alarmed 
by these efforts of its most hated and most dangerous enemies to 
facilitate communications between the two seas ; and the unea- 
siness thus occasioned was from time to time increased by rumors 
of the successful issue of voyages made for that purpose by sub- 
jects of various European nations. 

The earliest of these rumors related to the discovery supposed 
to have been made by the celebrated Portuguese, Gaspar de Cor- 
tereal, in 1500, of a passage called the Strait of Anion, uniting the 
two oceans, north of that part of America which was, and still 
is, known by the general name of Labrador. Cortereal did cer- 
tainly, about the year last mentioned, explore the coasts of New- 
foundland and those of the continent in its vicinity ; and it is pos- 
sible that he may also have penetrated through Hudson's Strait 
into Hudson's Bay, which he would then most naturally have 
considered as a western ocean. Whatever may have been the ori- 
gin or basis of the rumor respecting the discovery of the Strait of 
Anian* the Spaniards and other European nations long continued 
to be persuaded of its truth. Expeditions were made in search 
of the passage ; and nearly all of those who pretended to have 
accomplished northern voyages between the Atlantic and the 
Pacific, asserted that they had sailed by way of the Strait of 
Anian. 

The number of persons who claimed the merit of discovering 
navigable passages through or around the northern parts of Amer- 


* The Strait of Anian was said to have been so named by Cortereal, after two 
brothers who sailed with him. The author of an article in the London Quarterly 
tor October, 1816, conceives that the passage was more probably thus denominated, be- 
cause the navigator "deemed it to be the eastern extremity of a strait, whose western 
end, opening into the Pacific, had already received that name." In order to show 
the value of this conception, it is only necessary to observe that Cortereal's voyage 
took place in 1500, and that the ocean on the western side of America was not dis- 
covered until thirteen years afterwards. 



[ 174] 



40 



15 75 i ca at tne period here referred to, appears to have been consider- 
to able. The chroniclers of the time have preserved the names of 

1632. several ; and although their stories are now known to have been 
as false as those respecting the acquisition of the philosopher's 
stone, or the elixir of life, yet some of them should be noticed, 
on account of the influence which they exerted upon the progress 
of research in the northwestern part of the New World. 

The most celebrated fable of this class, is the one of which a 
Portuguese, named Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado, is the hero. 
He is said to have sailed from the Atlantic, in 1588, through. a 
strait communicating with that sea near the 62d degree of north 
latitude, into the Pacific, which he entered by a very narrow 
opening situated under the 60th parallel; having, in the course 
of this navigation, been obliged to proceed as far north as the 
75th degree. This supposed voyage is mentioned by several 
Spanish authors of the seventeenth century. It was however 
forgotten, and remained in oblivion, until 1790, when it was again 
brought before the world by an eminent French geographer, M. 
Buache,who endeavored to establish the truth of the most mate- 
rial parts of the statement, in a memoir read by him before the 
Academy of Sciences of Paris. In consequence of his observa- 
tions, the Spanish Government ordered the commanders of the 
vessels which were in that year sent to explore the northwest 
coasts of America, to search for the western extremity of the strait 
They did so, but in vain ; and it is now certain that no such pas- 
sage exists. With regard to the origin of the story, Navarrete in- 
forms us that a person named Maldonado, an unprincipled ad- 
venturer, who had written some works on geography, presented 
to the Council of the Indies, in Spain, a narrative or memoir of a 
voyage which he pretended to have made at the time, and in the 
manner above related, accompanied by a petition that he might 
be rewarded for his discovery, and intrusted with the command 
of forces, in order to occupy and defend the passage against other 
nations. Navarrete adds, that this proposition was rejected by 
the Council, but that the papers respecting it were retained, and 
are still preserved among the Archives of the Indies. In 1812, 
Signor Carlo Amoretti, of Milan, found in the Ambrosian library a 
Spanish manuscript, purporting to be a copy of this same narra- 
tive or memoir, and published a translation of it in French, with 
notes and commentaries in support of the assertions of the writer. 
Whether the said manuscript be indeed a copy of that presented 
by Maldonado to the Spanish Government, or not, is a question 
as yet unsolved; and it is, moreover, a question which may as 
well remain without solution, as the subject no longer possesses 
any claim to attention. Equally useless is it at the present day 
to inquire whether or not this Maldonado* made a voyage in the 



* The question as to the truth cf the story of Maldonado's voyage is discussed in 
the introduction to the account of the expedition oi lhe Sulil and Mexicana, and in 
the London (Quarterly Review for October, 1816. The article in the Review is well 
written, but filled with inaccuracies in all that relates to the Pacific. The writer 
considers the account translated by Amoretti to be the fabrication of some German. 



41 



[ 174] 



north Pacific as far as Beering's Strait, the discovery of which 1575 
has been ascribed to him, upon evidence the most slender, sup- 

i ported by presumptions the most gratuitous. # 

No less destitute -of truth is the story of the expedition of Ad- 
miral Pedro Fonte, from Peru to the Atlantic, through northern 
seas and rivers; which is, however, to be referred to a much later 
date than that of the voyage of Maldonado, as it first appeared in 

' a periodical work entitled " Monthly Miscellany, or Memoirs of 
the Curious" published at London in June, lTOS.f According 1640. 
to this story, the admiral sailed from Callao in April, 1640, to the 
north Pacific, where he discovered a group of islands near the 
American continent, named by him Mas de San Lazaro. Among 
these islands he proceeded 260 leagues, and then, in the latitude 
of 53 degrees, he entered a river called by him Rio de los Reyes, 
which he ascended in a northeasterly direction, penetrating the 
interior of America, until he reached a great lake containing many 
islands. There he left his ships, and going (in boats, we are to 
infer) down another river which flowed from the lake eastward ly, 
he at length came to a sea, where he found a large ship at anchor. 
She proved to be a trading- vessel from Boston, in Massachu- 
setts ; and her commander, Shapley, informed the admiral that he 
had arrived at his actual position by a northern course from that 
port. Being thus convinced of the existence of an uninterrupted 
connexion by water between the two oceans, across the northern 
section of America, the Spaniards returned to their ships, and 
then sailed back to Peru, through the Rio de los Reyes and the 
Pacific. 

The above sketch of the supposed expedition of Admiral Fonte 
will be sufficient for present purposes. The original account is 
long, and is filled with confused and trifling details, the incon- 
sistencies in which should have prevented it from receiving any 
credit. It was, however, for some time generally believed to be 
true, or partly true ; and its probability was maintained so lately as 
in 1797, by the scientific Fleurieu,in his Introduction to the Nar- 
rative of Marchand's Voyage. The fact of the existence of a num- 
ber of islands in the situation assigned to the Archipelago of San 
Lazaro, indeed, affords some reason for the assumption that the 
story may have been founded on discoveries really made in that 
part of the Pacific. NavarreteJ treats the whole account as an 
absurd fabrication ; and takes the opportunity to defend the Gov- 
ernment of his country from the charge brought against it by 



* Viz: upon a passage in the Bibliotheca Hispana-Nova, of Nicolas Antonio, 
published in 1(572, to the effect that the author had seen in the possession of a bishop, 
a manuscript account of the discovery of the Strait of And an, by Lorenzo Ferrer de 
Maldonado, in 1588 This passage, and an abstract of the relation of Maldonado, 
taken from Amoretti's publication, may be found in Burner's History of Voyages in 
the Pacific, vol. v, page 16o: the abstract is in the appendix [B] to this memoir. 

t The whole account of this pretended voyage may be found in Burney's Histoiy 
of Voyages in the Pacific, vol. iii, page 185; and in Hohbs's History of [fudson's Bay. 
The story belongs to the class of fictions now commonly called hoaxes. 

t Introduction to the Narrative of the Voyage of the Sutil and Mexicana. page 76. 



42 



Fleurieu,of concealing the results of attempts made by its orders 
to explore unknown seas and regions. 

One other account of a supposed voyage from the Pacific to the 
Atlantic remains to be noticed ; which should not, however, be 
classed with those above mentioned, although it is certainly er- 
roneous as regards the most material point, and was probably 
known to be so by the original narrator. All the information as 
yet obtained respecting this voyage may be found in a note # or 
declaration written by Michael Lock, an English merchant or 
agent in the Levant trade, and published under his name, in 1625, 
in the celebrated geographical and historical collection called " the 
Pilgrims," by Samuel Purchas. 

From Mr. Lock's declaration, it appears that, in 1596, he met 
at Venice an aged Greek, calling himself Apostolos Valerianos, 
who stated, that he had been employed for more than forty years, 
under the name of Juan de Fuca, as seaman and pilot in the 
Spanish service ; that he had been one of the crew of the Ma- 
nilla ship Santa Anna, plundered by Cavendish near the coast of 
California, in 1587, on which occasion he had lost property of 
his own to the value of sixty thousand ducats ; and that he had 
subsequently, in 1592, acted as pilot in a voyage, made by order 
of the Viceroy of Mexico, in search of "the Straights of Anian, 
and the passage thereof into the North sea." In this voyage, as he 
said, " he followed his course west and northwest, along the coasts 
of Mexico and California, as far as the 47th degree of latitude;" be- 
tween which parallel and the 48th, he entered " a broad inlet of the 
sea, and, sailing therein more than twenty days, he found the 
land trending some time northwest and northeast, and north, and 
also east and southeast, and very much broader sea than was at 
the entrance ; and he passed by divers islands in that sailing. 
Being entered thus far into the said straight, and being come into 
the North sea [the Atlantic] already, and finding the sea wide 
enough everywhere, it being about thirty or forty leagues broad 
at the mouth of the straights where he entered, he thought he 
had well discharged his office, and, not being armed to resist sav- 
ages, he set sail, and returned homeward again to Acapuico." 
The Greek added, that neither the Viceroy of Mexico nor the 
Spanish Government had rewarded him for this service, " and 
understanding of the noble mind of the Queen of England, and 
of her wars maintained so valiantly against the Spaniards, and 
hoping that her Majesty would do him justice for his goods lost 
by Captain Candish, he would be content to go to England 
and serve her Majesty in a voyage for the perfect discovery of the 
northwest passage into the South sea, and would put his life into 
her Majesty's hands, to perform the same, if she would furnish 
him with only one ship of forty tons burthen, and a pinnace ; and 



*" A note made by me, Michael Lock the elder, touching the strait of sea com- 
monly called Fretum Anian, in the Sooth sea, through the northwest passage of 
Meta Incognita."— Purchas's Pilgrims: London, 1G25, vol. iii, p. 84-9. .The whole 
account will be found in the appendix [ C ] to this memoir. 



43 



[ 174 



that he would perform it, from one end of the straights to the 1592. 
other, in thirty days time." 

Mr. Lock goes on to say that he had endeavored, in conse- 
quence, to interest the Government of his country in the affair ; 
and had held correspondence on the subject with various eminent 
persons in England, as also with Juan de Fuca, from whom he 
gives the copy of a letter stating his readiness to engage in the 
proposed enterprise. The English Government, however, showed 
no willingness to favor the project ; considering the whole story, 
probably, as a fabrication on the part of the old Greek for the pur- 
pose of advancing his own interests. The hundred pounds re- 
quired in order to bring him to London could not be raised ; 
and when Mr. Lock last heard of him, he was dying in the island 
of Cephalonia, in 1602. 

These are the most material circumstances relative to Juan de 
Fuca, and his supposed discoveries in the northern seas, as re- 
corded by Mr. Lock, and transmitted to us with the respectable 
endorsement of Purchas. Several English writers of the same 
period allude to the subject, but they afford no additional particu- 
lars ; and nothing whatsoever has hitherto been obtained from 
any other source, tending to prove directly that such a voyage 
was made, or that such a person as Juan de Fuca ever existed. 
The account appears to have obtained no credit in England; and 
to have been almost unknown out of that kingdom, until after 
the publication of the journals of the last expedition of Cook, 
(1785,) who conceived that he had, by his examinations on the 
northwest coast of America, ascertained its entire falsehood. Sub- 
sequent discoveries in that part of the world have, however, 
served to establish a strong probability in favor of the general 
correctness of the old Greek's assertions ; inasmuch as they show 
that his geographical descriptions are as nearly conformable with 
the truth as those of any other navigator of his day. Thus 
Fuca says that between the 47th and 48th degrees of latitude he 
entered a broad inlet of sea, through which he sailed for twenty 
days, the land trending northwest and northeast, and north, 
and east and southeast ; and that in his course he passed by nu- 
merous islands. Now the fact is, that, between the 48th and 49th 
parallels, a broad inlet of sea extends from the Pacific eastward, 
apparently penetrating the American continent, to the distance of 
about one hundred miles ; after which, it turns northwest by-west, 
and, continuing in that direction about two hundred and fifty ' 
miles farther, crossed and divided by many islands, it again com- 
municates with the Pacific. 

The discrepancies here to be observed are few and slight, and 
are certainly all within the limits of supposable error on the part 
of the Greek, especially when his advanced age, and the circum- 
stance that he spoke only from recollection, are considered; while, 
on the other hand, the coincidences are too great and too striking 
to be fairly attributable to chance. Of those who have examined 
the subject, some have rejected the whole account given by the 
pilot as false; others, on the contrary, maintain not only that he 
performed the voyage as stated, but that he was even convinced of 



44 



1592, his having reached the Atlantic in the course of it. A mean be- 
tween the two opinions* seems to be the most reasonable con- 
clusion. It should be admitted that Fuca entered the strait 
now bearing his name, and that he may have passed entirely 
through it ; but that he, an experienced navigator, should have 
conceived that by sailing thirty leagues east, and then eighty 
leagues northwest-by-west, he had arrived in the Atlantic, is wholly 
incredible. 

This will suffice with regard to the voyage of Fuca, the truth 
or falsehood of which is, at the present day, a question of little or 
no moment. 

Some reports of the discovery of a northern passage between 
the Atlantic and the Pacific, and of the existence of rich nations in 
that direction, induced the Spanish Government, about the year 

159&. 1595, to order that measures should be taken to ascertain the facts 
on those subjects. The Count de Monterey, Viceroy of Mexico^ 
accordingly fitted out three vessels, which were despatched from 

15%. Acapulco in the spring of 1596, under the command of Sebastian 
Yizcaino, a soldier well acquainted with marine affairs. Nothing 
important, however, was gained by this expedition. Yizcaino 
did not proceed beyond the limits of the Gulf of California; and, 
being disappointed in his attempts to form establishments on the 
shores of that, sea, he returned to Mexico before the end of the 
same year. 

o99. Other and more peremptory orders for the immediate survey 
Sept. g& settlement of the western coast of California were received 
by the Yiceroy of Mexico, from Madrid, in 1599; and he, in con- 
sequence, began preparations for an expedition, on a greater and 
more complete scale of equipment than any of those previously 
made in that direction. Two large ships and a small vessel were 
provided for the purpose at Acapulco, and furnished with all the 
requisites for a long voyage of discovery ; and, in addition to their 
regular crews, a number of pilots, priests, draughtsmen, and other 
proper persons, were engaged, composing, together, says Torque- 
mada,f " the most enlightened corps ever raised, in New Spain. " 
The navigation was placed under the direction of Toribio Gomez 
de Corvan, as admiral ; but the command of the whole force was 
intrusted to Sebastian Yizcaino, who bore the title of Captain 
General of California. 
m 80 \ vesse l s sailed from Acapulco on the 5th of May, 1602, and r 

' ay ' having reached the western side of California before the middle 
June la of the following month, the survey was immediately commenced 
from Cape San Lucas, the southern extremity of the peninsula. 



* It is needless to quote the opinions of Forster or Fleurieu, as they both wrote be- 
fore the publication of the Journals of Vancouver, by who n the passage now called 
the Strait of Fuca was explored. Navarrete considers the account of the pilot's 
voyage false, because he can find no mention oi it among the Archives of the Indies, 
or in the old Spanish historians ; and Humboldt, as usual, contents himself with 
adopting the conclusions of Navarrete. 

t Monarquia Indiana, vol. i, page (>94. Torquemada's account is abridged from 
the journal of Friar Antonio de la Ascension, ihe chaplain of the admiral's ship, 
It contains little respecting the movements of the other two vessels. 



45 



[ mi 



The prosecution of the undertaking was attended with great dif - 1020. 
Acuities ; the scurvy soon appeared in the squadron, and the 
Spaniards had their perseverance put to the test by the northwest 
winds, which almost constantly opposed their progress along the 
coast. Vizcaino, however, made the best use of the time which 
he was obliged to spend in harbors, by examining the shores and 
the adjacent inland territories ; and he thus collected a large 
amount of valuable information on those subjects, in the form of 
notes, plans, and sketches, which are said to lie still mouldering 
among the archives of the Spanish Government.* 

By the beginning of December, after their departure from Aca- Dec. 
pulco, the ships had advanced no farther north than the 32d de- 
gree of latitude, near which a good harbor was found, and named 
Port San Diego. Proceeding onwards, they reached another har- 
bor under the 3Tth parallel, combining, in the opinion of Vizcai- 
no, every requisite for the maintenance of a colony, and for the 
supply and repairs of vessels on their way from India to Mexico. 
On this p]ace he bestowed the name of Monterey r , in honor of the 
Viceroy, to whom he immediately sent letters by one of his ships, 
urging the establishment of colonies and garrisons at several points 
indicated. 

From Monterey, the remaining ship in which Vizcaino sailed 1603. 
with the admiral, and the small vessel commanded by ensign 
Martin de Aguilar, departed on the 3d of January, 1603, and by 
the 7th they had reached the vicinity of Cape Mendocino, when 
they were driven back by a violent gale, during which they were 
separated. The ship took refuge in the Bay of San Francisco, Jan. 10. 
where search was made in vain for the wreck of the San Augus- 
tin, which had been lost there while on her voyage from Manilla, 
in 1595 ;f she, however, soon got to sea again, and, passing be- Jan, 13, 
yond Cape Mendocino, was for several days tossed about at ran- 
dom by the storms. On the 20th of January she was opposite a Jan. 20. 
high white promontory, which received the name of Cape Blanco 
de San Sebastian, and was found by a solar observation to be in 
the latitude of 42 degrees. By this time there were but six per- 
sons on board capable of doing duty; and as the small vessel did 
not appear, Vizcaino, with the assent of the other officers, resolved 
to direct his course towards the south. This was accordingly 
done, and the ship entered Acapulco on the 21st of March, with 
only three effective men among her crew. 

The small vessel, after her separation from the ship, sailed Jan. 19 
northward for some distance along the coast, as far as the latitude 
of 43 degrees, " where," says Torquemada, " the land forms a 
cape or point, which was called Cape Blanco, and from which the 
coast begins to run to ihe northwest; and near it was found a 
rapid and abundant river, with ash trees, willows, brambles, and 



* Introduction to the Journal of the Sutil and Mexicans., page 68. A chart of the 
west coast of California, as far north as Cape Mendocino, was compiled from these 
documents, of which a copy may be found in the atlas of the work above mentioned, 

t As before mentioned at page 34. 



[174] 



46 



1003. other Castilian trees, on its banks ; but it could not be entered on 
account of the strength of its current." From this point Aguilar 
turned to the south ; his vessel reached Acapulco, but he and all 
the other officers, and many of the men, died of scurvy on the 
voyage thither. 

Considerable doubts have been cast, and not without reason, 
upon the accuracy of the account of Aguilar's discoveries beyond 
Cape Mendocino. It is certainly incorrect on one point, for we 
know that the coast does not " begin to turn towards the north- 
west" at the 43d degree of latitude, or at any other point between 
Cape Mendocino and the 47th degree. Moreover, it is scarcely 
credible that Aguilar should, at so stormy a season, and with so 
inefficient a crew, have ventured so near to a lee shore, entirely 
unknown to him, as to be able to distinguish, without a glass^ the 
species of the trees growing on it. The great river which he is 
said to have found about the 43d degree of latitude has not yet 
been identified ; although several streams, none of them large, do 
certainly enter the Pacific near that parallel. The account of the 
discovery of this river has attracted much more attention than it 
merited, or than the unfortunate Aguilar (if he actually saw such 
a stream) could have anticipated, in consequence of an idle opin- 
ion expressed, or rather recorded, by Torquemada, that it might 
prove to be the long-sought Strait of Anian, or might lead to the 
wealthy city of Quivira, believed to exist in that part of the world. 
The Cape Blanco mentioned as the northern limit of Aguilar's 
progress along the coast, is supposed by Cook to be a remarkable 
promontory, situated under the 43d parallel, to which the English 
navigator, however, did not scrapie to apply the name of Cape 
Gregory. In like manner, Vancouver has bestowed the appella- 
tion of Cape Orford upon another great projection from the con- 
tinent, near the 42d degree, although he considered it to be 
identical with the Cape Blanco de San Sebastian of Vizcaino. 

Upon comparing the accounts of this expedition with those of 
the voyage of Cabrillo, in 1542-'3, it will be seen that the same, 
or nearly the same, portions of the west coast of America, were 
observed on both occasions; and that Vizcaino, consequently, did 
no more than survey minutely what had been already discovered 
by his predecessors. 

Vizcaino endeavored, after his return to Mexico, to prevail upon 
the Viceroy to establish colonies and garrisons at San Diego, Mon- 
terey, and other points on the coast which he had surveyed, for 
the purpose of facilitating the trade with India, as well as to pre- 
vent the occupation of that coast by other nations. His efforts 
being unavailing in Mexico, he went to Spain, where he finally 

1606. obtained from King Philip III. royal orders for the execution 
of his projects. He, however, unfortunately died in Mexico in 

1609. 1609, while engaged in preparing for the enterprise ; and no farther 
measures were taken, either by individual Spaniards or by their 



* The invention of the tel.- scope look place in 1609. 



47 



[174] 



Government, to settle the west coast of California, or to extend the ico9. 
limits of discovery in that direction, until 160 years afterwards. 

This part of America remained, in the mean time, almost for- 
gotten, except by persons engaged in the navigation from India 
to Mexico, who were obliged to make themselves acquainted with 
the situation of the principal headlands and islands* south of 
Cape Mendocino. One of these navigators brought to Mexico, in 1620. 
1620, an account of a channel which he pretended to have dis- 
covered near the 43d parallel of latitude, connecting the Gulf of 
California with the Pacific ; and, as this statement corresponded 
with that of the discovery of a great river at the same position by 
Martin de Aguilar, it was readily received as true. Accordingly, 
in all maps of this part of the world, published during the re- 
mainder of the seventeenth century, California is represented as 
an island, separated from the continent by a strait. t The error 
was corrected in 1700 by Father Kuhn, (or Kino, as the Spaniards 
write his name,) a German Jesuit, who explored the region about 
the northern extremity of the gulf. 

Shortly after the period of Vizcaino's expedition, the French, 1607. 
the English, and the Dutch, successively established colonies on 
the Atlantic side of North America, as well as in the West Indies, 
where the English and French already held some possessions ; 
and geographical discoveries were also about the same time made 
by the navigators of those nations, which were, or appeared to be, 
seriously prejudicial to the interests of Spain in the New World. 
Thus, Henry Hudson ascertained the existence of the great in- 1600. 
terior sea north of Canada, from which it was confidently ex- 
pected that some passage to the Pacific would be speedily found; 
and Lemaire and Yan Schouten entered that ocean through the 
open sea, south of the promontory, which, in honor of their native 
city in Holland, they called Cape Horn. The navigation between 
the Atlantic and the Pacific was so much facilitated by the latter 



* In a work printed at Manilla in 1712, called "Navegacion Espeeulaliva y Prac- 
tiea," minute directions are given for sailing along this part of the American coast. 

t In i lie carious map of North America, at page 854 of the 3d volume of Purchas's 
Pilgninage, published in 1625, the sea is represented between California and the con- 
tinent, as far north as the 45th degree. On this map are laid down, by name, Cape 
Blanco, Cape San Sebastian, and many other points discovered by Vizcaino. In 
the geographical and historical atlas of Mitchell and Senex, published at London 
in 172!, California appears as an island, extending from Cape San Lucas to the 
45th degiee of latitude ; the northernmost part of the island is called Nova Albion. 
North of it are placed a number of small islands, near the continent, with the names 
of &uis;ento, Colubra, Wanguino, Maquino, &c, affixed to them. Whence were 
these names derived? 

A veteran buccanier, Captain Coxton, who nourished in the latter part of the 
17th century, asserted that he had, in 1688, discovered a river emptying into the Pa- 
cific from the American continent, north of Cape Mendocino, up which he had sailed 
into a great interior sea called the Lake of Thoyaga, containing many islands, in- 
habited by a numerous and warlike population This lake may be found on several 
old maps of that part of North America, for instance, in the atlas of Mitchell and 
Senex, above mentioned. Northwest America was indeed at that time the Urra 
incog nil issima. Bacon laid the scene of his Atlantis there; and Brobdignag, ac- 
cording to the very exact account of its discoverer, Captain Lemuel Gulliver, was 
situated immediately north of the Strait of Fuca, about the 50th parallel of latitude. 
The position of Utopia (or no where) is not clearly expressed in the narrative of 
Master Ralph Hythloday ; but it seems to have been near California. 



[ 174] 



48 



1600. discovery, that voyages to the western side of America were no 
longer considered as dangerous enterprises; and the Spanish com- 
merce on those coasts was almost ever afterwards harassed by 
pirates, or quasi pirates, of various classes and denominations. 
The Gulf of California was, during the seventeenth century, the 
principal resort and rendezvous for these depredators, especially 
for those from Holland, who, under the name of Pichilings, kept 
the inhabitants of the southern coasts of Mexico in constant anx- 
iety. 

For the purpose of protecting these coasts from such inflictions, 
as well as of obtaining advantage from the pearl-fishery on the 
eastern side of California, several attempts were made by the Gov- 

1616 eminent, as well as by individuals and companies in Mexico, to 

1684 establish garrisons, colonies, and trading-posts in that peninsula.* 
' Of the expeditions thus made, it is needless here to relate the par- 
ticulars, as they are unconnected with the principal subject of 
this memoir; suffice it to say, that they all terminated unfortu- 
nately, from want of funds, from the barrenness of the country 
and the hostility of its inhabitants, and, above all, from the indo- 
lence and viciousness of the persons sent out as colonists. The 
last of these expeditions made by command of the Spanish Gov- 
ernment was under the direction of Don Isidro de Otondo, who, 
in 16S3, conducted from Mexico a number of soldiers, settlers, and 
priests, of the order of the Jesuits, and distributed them at various 
points on the western side of the Californian guff; the colonies, 
however, ail disappeared within a few months after they had been 
planted, and it was then resolved by a council of the principal au- 
thorities of Mexico that the reduction of California by such means 
was impracticable. 

1685. The Jesuits who had accompanied Otondo in his expedition, 
while concurring with the council in its opinion, nevertheless in- 
sisted that the object might be attained by another course, viz : 
by the conversion to Christianity and civilization of the natives 
of that part of America, which task they offered themselves to 
undertake. Their proposition met with little encouragement from 
the heads of the government in Mexico. Being, however, not dis- 
heartened, the fathers perambulated the whole kingdom, preach- 
ing and exhorting the authorities and the people to aid them in 
the prosecution of an enterprise so pious and so politic. By such 
means, and by the co-operation of their brethren in Spain, they 

1697. raised a small fund, and finally, in 1697, procured royal Avarrants 
authorizing them to undertake the reduction of California for the 
King, and to do every thing which might be necessary for that 
purpose, at their ovm expense. On receiving these warrants, Father 

Oct. Salvatierra, the principal missionary, sailed with a few soldiers 
and laborers to the land which was to be the scene of their oper- 
ations, where he was soon joined by Fathers Kuhn, (or Kino, as 



* Accounts of these expeditions may be found in the History of California, by 
Father Venegas; and in Navarrete's Introducuon to the Journal of the Sutil and 
Mexicana. 



49 



c 174 : 



the Spaniards call him,) Picolo, Ugarte, and others, all men of 1G97. 
education and courage, zealously devoted to the business before 
them. 

On arriving in California, the Jesuits had to encounter the same 
obstacles and difficulties which had rendered vain all previous 
attempts to form establishments in that region. They were at- 
tacked by the natives, to whose enmity several of the fathers fell 
victims ; their own men were insubordinate, and were generally 
more inclined to fish for pearls, than to engage in the regular la- 
bors required for the support of settlers in a new country ; and 
their operations were for some time confined within the narrowest 
limits, by the want of funds. Their brethren and friends in Spain 
occasionally obtained orders for small sums from the Government 
for their use ; but the Mexican treasury, on which these orders 
were drawn, was seldom able to meet them when presented,*" and 
the value of the assistance thus afforded was in all cases much 
diminished before it reached those for whom it was intended. 

By perseverance and kindness, however, the Jesuits triumphed ^397 
over all these difficulties. Within a short time after their entrance to 
into California, they founded several stations or missions : and be- 1768 
fore the middle of the last century, their establishments extended, 
at short distances apart, along the whole eastern side of the pen- 
insula, from the mouth of the Colorado in the north, to Cape San 
Lucas. Each of these stations contained a church, a small fort, 
and a storehouse ; and it formed the centre of a district, in which 
the Indians were induced, by the most gentle means, to labor 
regularly for their own support, to live at peace among themselves, 
and to receive instruction in the doctrines of the Roman Catholic 
religion. To these ends were the efforts of the fathers exclu- 
sively directed, immigration from other countries being always 
discouraged by them. That their exertions in this way were cal- 
culated to produce temporary good, cannot be denied, as the in- 
dividual objects of them must have been rendered more happy 
and comfortable than they would have otherwise been ; but it ap- 
pears to be equally certain, that neither the Jesuits nor any other 
missionaries have ever succeeded in fitting a Californian Indian 
to become a useful member of society. 

These missionaries, likewise, exerted themselves assiduously 
in acquiring a knowledge of the geography, natural history, lan- 
guages, &c, of the country which they had taken under their 
charge ; and so far as regards the middle and eastern parts of the 
peninsula, and the region farther north, watered by the Colorado 
and the Gila, nearly all the information which we now possess 
has been derived through the labors of the Jesuits. Respecting 
the western side of the peninsula they added little or nothing to 
the stock of knowledge, all their efforts to examine that portion 
having been unsuccessful. One of the most material points as- 



* It appears, from the History of California, by Venegas, (part 3, section 4,) that 
in 1702 the Mexican treasury was exhausted by the expenses of expeditions for the 
conquest of Texas, and for establishing forts and garrisons at Pensacola, and other 
places on the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico. 



[ 174] 



50 



1697 certained by them was the fact of the connexion of California 
to with the American continent, which, after having been doubted 
or denied for almost a century, was completely established by 
Father Kuhn, an indefatigable German, in 1700. 

The results of these researches were communicated to the world, 
from time to time, through the medium of a periodical publica 
tion, entitled " Lettres Edijiantes et Curieuses, ecrites des Missions 
Etrangeres" (Edifying and Curious Letters written from the For- 
eign Missions,) which was conducted at Paris by Jesuits, for seve- 
ral years, from 1716. But the most complete account of Califor- 
nia,* to 1750, is to be found in the Natural and Civil History of that 
country, generally attributed to Father Miguel Yenegas, though 
now known to have been composed chiefly by another priest of 
the order, named Andres Marcos Burriel. Respecting this work, 
which appeared originally at Madrid in 1757, and has been since 
translated into all the principal European languages, it may be 
here observed, that the portions dedicated to the labors of the Jes- 
uits are highly interesting, and that they bear with them the 
marks of truth ; but that the notices of events which occurred 
prior to the entrance of the missionaries into the country are often 
at variance with those given by the older writers, and sometimes 
evidently erroneous. The observations of the author upon the 
policy of the Spanish Government towards its American domin- 
ions are replete with wisdom, and indicate more liberality, as well 
as boldness on his part, than could have been reasonably expect- 
ed, considering the circumstances under which he wrote and pub- 
lished. 

The Jesuits received, as before mentioned, little assistance from 
the Spanish Government in the prosecution of their plans with 
regard to California. That Government, indeed, was not only at 
all times disinclined to favor projects from which no immediate 
increase of its revenues or political strength could be anticipated, 
but was also particularly jealous and mistrustful as to the pro- 
ceedings of the Jesuits in the New World. Suspicions were en- 
tertained at Madrid that those proceedings were not dictated sole- 
ly by philanthropic and religious motives; but that the body as- 
pired to the separation and exclusive control of many portions, if 
not of the whole, of the Spanish empire in America. These sus- 
picions became stronger as the influence of the Jesuits increased; 
the power possessed, or believed to be possessed, by their order, 
however, preserved them for some time from any direct open at- 
1767. tack on the part of the Government. At length, in 1767, a royal 
decree was issued by King Charles III. for their expulsion from 
his dominions ; it was executed without difficulty,! and the 



* " Noticia de la California y de su Conquista, sacada de la hisloria manuscrita del 
Padre Miguel Venegas, y de oltas noticias." (" Account of California, and of its con- 
quest, drawn from the manuscript history of Father Miguel Venegas, and from other 
sources.") The English translation, published in 1759, is miserable. 

t A large military force was sent from Mexico, for the purpose of dislodging the 
Jesuits in California. Gaspar de Portola, the commander of ihis expedition, is said 
lo have been much ashamed and mortified on finding that his efforts were directed 
only against a few old priests, and their half starved simple Indian converts. 



51 



[ 174 ] 



missionaries in California were obliged, at a moment's warning, 1707. 
to quit forever the establishments which they had so long and so 
sedulously been engaged in rearing. 

In 1769, immediately after the expulsion of the Jesuits from 1769. 
California, the Spaniards established the first colony and garrison 
on the western coast of that territory. This measure was effected 
in prosecution of a scheme of reform and defence, which had 
been devised at Madrid, with the view of rendering the trans-At- 
lantic dominions of Spain more profitable to the mother country, 
and more dependent upon its authority ; as Avell as of securing 
them against apprehended encroachments of foreign nations. 

Since the days of Sebastian Vizcaino, who had so strenuously 1603 
recommended the settlement of this part of America, the Spanish ^ 
power had, from a variety of causes, been constantly declining. 
On the Atlantic side of the New World several valuable territo- 
ries, which had long been occupied by the subjects of his Cath- 
olic Majesty, as well as others to which his claims were less ob- 
vious, had passed into the hands of his bitterest foes ; and al- 
though his authority was still undisputed on the western side of 
the continent, yet his pretensions to the exclusive dominion of 
the Pacific had become obsolete. The buccaneers had led the 
way into that ocean. They were followed by the armed squadrons 
of Great Britain and Holland, with one or other of which nations 
Spain was almost incessantly at war; and, during the short inter- 
vals of peace, came the exploring ships of those Powers and of 
France, whose voyages of discovery were always regarded by 
the Court of Madrid as ominous of evil to its American colonies. 
The results of these exploring expeditions were communicated to 
the world without delay, and in the most full and authentic man- 
ner possible ; the journals of the respective navigators being pub- 
lished immediately after their return, illustrated by charts, tables, 
and drawings, affording accurate ideas of the objects and events 
described. New channels of commercial intercourse were thus 
opened to all ; and new principles of national law, adverse to the 
subsistence of the monopolies enforced by Spain, were gradually 
introduced and adopted by the other maritime Powers of Europe.* 

After the peace of 1763, the exploring voyages of the French 
and British were more frequent, and were conducted in a man- 
ner which gave to them distinctly the characters of political move- 
ments. The irritation and jealousy which they occasioned at 
Madrid were still farther increased upon the establishment of col- 1764 
onies, by each of the abovementioned nations, among the islands A 0 ^ 
of the Falkland group, at the very threshold of the Pacific. The 
French Government, indeed, soon withdrew its subjects from 



*"Sir Benjamin Keene, one of the ablest foreign ministers this country ever had, 
(he was ambassador from Great Britain to the Court of Madrid fiom 1754 to 1757,) 
used to say, that if the Spaniards vexed us in the first instance, we had means 
enough to vex them without infringing upon treaiies; and the first step he would re- 
commend would be, to send out ships of discovery to the Souih seas."— Lord Lans- 
downe's speech in Parliament on the Convention with Spain; delivered December 13, 
1790. Parliamentary History, vol. xxvii, page 944. 



[ 174] 



52 



1764 those islands, at the request of the King of Spain; the British 
to cabinet, however, disregarded all hints and remonstrances respect- 

1/66. jjjg ^ alleged encroachments upon the territories of his Cath- 
olic Majesty, and there were strong indications of designs on its 
part to invade other portions of those territories in a similar man- 

1763 ner. The exploring ships had confined themselves to the south- 
to ern and intertropical parts of the ocean ; there was. however, no 

1/6S - reason for expecting that they would not in time advance towards 
the shores of the north Pacific, where their presence could not 
but be injurious to the interests and security of the Spanish do- 
minions. 

Serious grounds for apprehensions on the part of the Spanish 
Government were also afforded by the Russians, whose dis- 
coveries and settlements on the northernmost coasts of the Pacific 
were about that time beginning to attract the attention of other 
European nations. Of these proceedings little was known with 
certainty, except that the Russians had built vessels on the east- 
ern side of Asia, and had discovered extensive territories beyond 
the sea which bathes those shores. "Whether the territories thus 
found were islands, or parts of Asia or of America, and whether 
those continents were or not united in the north, were questions 
then undetermined. The fact that this ambitious and enterpri- 
sing Power had formed establishments on the Pacific, was suffi- 
cient to create alarms at Madrid; which were rendered more seri- 
ous by the knowledge, afterwards obtained, that new armaments 
on a large scale- were in preparation at Kamschatka. 

1765. In order to avert the evils thus supposed to be impending, the 
Spanish Government devised a series of measures, which were to 
be successively applied as circumstances might seem to indicate 
or to allow. Of these measures, one of the principal objects was 
the occupation and settlement of the vacant territories of Amer- 
ica bordering upon the ocean ; to effect which, endeavors were 
made without delay. In the beginning of 1768, orders were given 
to the Viceroy of Mexico to have those coasts explored as far 
northward as it might be practicable to advance ; and at the same 
time to establish colonies upon them, sufficiently near each other 
for mutual support, in case of need, against savages or foreigners. 
The execution of these orders was committed chiefly to Don 
Jose de Galvez, a high officer of the Council of the Indies, who 
had been sent to Mexico in 1765 to superintend the application of 
the new measures in the northern section of Spanish America. 

1768. The west coast of America had at that time been discovered 
only as far north as the 43d degree of latitude — that is to say, 
as far north as Sebastian Vizcaino had sailed in 1603; and all the 
information concerning it, being derived from the accounts of the 
old navigators, amounted to little more than descriptions of har- 
bors and promontories south of that parallel. Upon examining 
the manuscripts of Vizcaino relating to his voyage, notices and 
charts were found of several places upon this coast, which he 
considered well adapted for settlements ; and, in consequence of 
his recommendations, it was determined by the Viceroy and Gal- 
vez that the first establishments should be made at the spots 



53 



[ 174 ] 



which had received from this discoverer the names of San Diego 1768. 
and Monterey. 

Great difficulties were to be overcome in order to carry this de- 
termination into effect. Few persons could be found in Mexico 
willing to subject themselves to the fatigues and privations at- 
tending the settlement of a new country ; and it was not easy to 
procure on the Pacific side of the kingdom such vessels as would 
be required for the transportation of men and materials to the de- 
signated points on the northwest coast. At length, however, be- 
fore the close of the year, a small number of persons, consisting 
of priests, soldiers, and colonists, were assembled at one of the 
missionary stations on the eastern coast of California, called La 
Paz, from which place they began their march through the pe- 
ninsula, for San Diego, in two parties, respectively conducted by 
Gaspar de Portola, the governor of the new province, and Fer- 
nando de Rivera, a captain in the army. 

The arms, ammunition, provisions, and materials for the colo- 1769. 
nies were sent around to San Diego in two vessels, one of which, 
the San Antonio, reached that place on the 11th of April, 1769; April 11. 
the other vessel, the San Carlos, was driven far out to the westward, 
and was unable to enter her destined port until the end of the same April -29. 
month. Of a third vessel, the San Jose, which had also been 
despatched for the west coast, nothing was ever heard. The par- 
ties of emigrants who had proceeded by land from La Paz, under 
Portola and Rivera, successively arrived during May ; and a con- May. 
venient spot having been selected on the shore of the harbor, a 
town was laid out and buildings were commenced. 

Portola, being anxious in like manner to found a settlement at 
Monterey before the winter, set off for that place in June, with a June 14. 
portion of the emigrants and soldiers ;, leaving directions at San 
Diego that a vessel, which was expected with supplies from Mex- 
ico, should be despatched to meet him at the other harbor. This 
expedition was not successful. The Spaniards, marching along 
or near the coast towards the north, overshot Monterey, and at 
the end of October found themselves on the shores of the Bay of Oct. 30. 
San Francisco, which they recognised by means of the high 
white cliffs at its entrance. Turning towards the south, they 
found a port corresponding with that described by Yizcaino 
under the name of Monterey ; but the cold weather had set in, Nov. 26. 
and, the vessel not appearing with the supplies, they were ob- 
liged to retrace their steps to San Diego, where they arrived on 
the 24th of January, 1770* 

In the spring of 1770 the San Antonio returned to San Diego 1770, 



* An account of the establishment of the first colonies on the west coast of Cali- 
fornia was drawn up by Don Miguel Costanso, the engineer of the expedition, and 
ublished at Mexico in the latter part of 1770 ; but it was immediately suppressed 
y the Government, Fortunately, however, a copy of the work was carried to 
England, where a translation was made from it and published in 1790. This trans- 
lation is accompanied by other useful articles with regard to the northwest coast, 
and by several maps and plans of harbors in that part of Ameriea. The work is 
m the library ef Congress. Much information on the same subject is also afforded 
by Fathet Francisco Palou, in his Life of Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan friar , 
who was the chief of the missionaries to California in 1768. 

5 



[174] 



54 



1770. with supplies from Mexico, in consequence of which Governor 
Portola determined to make another effort to form an establish- 
ment at Monterey. He accordingly marched for that place, where 
he was joined by the vessel with the supplies before the end of 
May ; and having succeeded in completing the most necessary 
arrangements for the shelter and support of the settlers during 
the winter, he himself proceeded to Mexico to superintend the 
despatch of emigrants to the colonies. 

It was in prosecution of this plan for securing the unsettled 
territories of America adjoining the Spanish dominions from 
occupation by foreigners, that Don Francisco Bucareli, the Gov- 
June 10. ernor of Buenos Ayres, in June, 1770, forcibly expelled the Brit- 
ish colonists from their establishment, called Port Egmont, in the 
Falkland Islands. This event occasioned serious difficulties be- 
tween the Governments of Great Britain and Spain, and prepara- 
tions for war were made upon both sides ; negotiations were, 
however, at the same time carried on, and the affair was at length 
arranged without recourse to arms, in a manner not wholly un- 
satisfactory to Spain. The history of these transactions has never 
yet been fully communicated to the world. From what has been 
published officially, added to the information obtained from vari- 
ous # other sources, the circumstances appear to have been as fol- 
lows : 

As soon as the news of the expulsion of the settlers reached 
Sept. 12. London, the British Secretary of State, Lord Weymouth, ad- 
dressed to the Court of Madrid demands for the immediate disa- 
vowal on its part of the acts of the Governor of Buenos Ayres, and 
for the restitution of the islands in the condition in which they 
were before those acts took place. To these demands the Span- 
ish Government at first gave evasive answers, endeavoring to 
change the question at issue into one respecting the right of sov- 
ereignty over the islands ; but the British ministry refused to treat 
upon this subject until the disavowal and restitution had been 
made as required; and preparations for large armaments were 
begun throughout Great Britain. The Spanish ambassador at 
London next declared himself empowered by his Sovereign to 
state that no particular orders had been given to the Governor of 
Buenos Ayres with regard to the Falkland Islands, although that 
officer had acted agreeably to his general instructions and oath in 
expelling the British ; and that Port Egmont should be restored 
as demanded. This offer was, however, also rejected as unsatis- 
Dee. factory by Lord Weymouth ; and war appeared inevitable. 

In this conjuncture, the King of Spain applied to his cousin 
Louis XV. of France for aid, agreeably to the Family Compact, 
in order that he might resist the demands of Great Britain. 
France was, however, at that time in a very disturbed state; in 



* Parliamentary History, vols, xvi and xxviii; Dodsley's Annual Register for 
1771, page 248 \ Belsham's History of Great Britain, vol. v, pages 368 to 371— par- 
ticularly a note at the last cited page. The account given by this writer is perhaps 
the clearest which has yet been presented. See also an article on the Character of 
Lord Chatham, in the Edinburgh Review, No. 136, for July, 1838, page 448. 



55 



[ 174] 



consequence of which, Louis declined entering as a party into 1770. 
the dispute, though he at the same time tendered his good offices 
as a mediator between the two Powers.* To this offer the Span- 
ish Government acceded ; and the King of Prance was thereupon 
immediately requested to take the whole matter under his charge, 
and to make any arrangement which he might consider proper 
for the interests and honor of Spain. In the mean time, a 
change had occurred in the composition and views of the British 
ministry. Lord Weymouth, being unwilling to recede from his 
first demands, and finding his colleagues averse to a war with 
Spain, had retired from office, and his successor, Lord Rochford, Dee. IS. 
was ready to compromise the affair. The offer of mediation on 
the part of France was, therefore, accepted by the Court of Lon- 
don ; and a definitive arrangement of the dispute was effected on 1771. 
the day of the meeting of Parliament. Jan - 

On that day the Spanish ambassador at London, Prince Mas- 
serano, presented to Lord Rochford a Declaration, in the name of 
the King of Spain, to the effect that his Catholic Majesty, being 
desirous to maintain peace with Great Britain, disavowed the acts 
of violence committed by the Governor of Buenos Ayres, and en- 
gaged to restore to his Britannic Majesty and his subjects ££ the 
port and fort of Egmont in the Falkland Islands, with all the ar- 
tillery, stores, and effects, precisely as they were before the 10th 
of June, 1770 ; ?5 but at the same time it was declared that this dis- 
avowal and engagement " cannot nor ought in anywise to affect 
the question of prior rigid of sovereignty of the Falkland Islands." 
The Earl of Rochford, in return, presented an Acceptance, in 
which, after recapitulating the paragraph of the Declaration rela- 
ting to the disavowal and engagements to make restitution, he 
stated that "his Britannic Majesty would look upon the said dec- 
laration, together with the performance of said engagement, as a 
satisfaction for the injury done to the Crown of Great Britain;" he 9 
however, made no allusion whatever to the reservation respecting 
the right of sovereignty to the territory restored. 

In execution of this engagement, the British colonists were re- 
placed at Port Egmont, as soon as it had been restored to the con- 
dition in which it was before the seizure ; they were, however, 
withdrawn in 1774, by order of their own Government, and the 1774. 
Falkland Islands having thus been freed from the presence of all 
other Europeans, were occupied by the Spaniards, who retained 
them until South America became independent. This abandon- 



* The celebrated treaty between the Monarchs of France and Spain, called the 
Pacte de Famille, was signed at Paris on the 15th of August, 1761. By the first arti- 
cle, their Majesties declare that "the two Crowns will henceforth consider every 
Power as their common enemy, which shall become the enemy of either of them;"" 
by the second article, they ' ! reciprocally guaranty, in the most absolute and authen- 
tic manner, all the estates, lands, islands, and places which they possess in any part 
of the world." Other articles fix the amount of " the first succors which the Power 
requested shall be obliged to furnish to the Power requesting." This treaty was 
virtually annulled by the National Assembly of France, in August, 1790 ; having 
been almost a dead letter during the whole period in which it was supposed to 
Ins ve been in force, 



I "4 ] 



56 



17 74 ment by Great Britain of a territory which had formed the subject 
of such serious difficulties between her Government and that of 
Spain, was justified by the British ministry on the ground that 
no advantages were derived or expected from the colony suffi- 
cient to compensate the costs of maintaining it. The Spaniards, 
however, have always asserted, and their assertion is supported 
by the opinions of distinguished British historians and statesmen, 
that the evacuation of the islands took place in execution of an ex- 
press though secret engagement to that effect, entered into by Lord 
Rochford at the time of the arrangement of the dispute.^ 

The Spanish Government considered the result of this dispute 
as advantageous, upon the whole, to the security of its American 
possessions; regarding the concessions made by itself as more 
than compensated by the indirect admission of its assumed rights 
of sovereignty over the unsettled territories adjoining those do- 
minions. Indeed, those concessions were little else than diplo- 
matic courtesies. The spot occupied by the British colonists 
was restored only to be soon after abandoned ; and Bucareli, not- 
withstanding the censure cast upon him in the disavowal of his 
conduct, was continued in command at Buenos Ayres until that 
evacuation took place, after which he was raised to the lucrative 
and dignified station of Yiceroy of Mexico. 

The same opinions with regard to the concessions of the Span- 
ish King prevailed very generally in Great Britain, as soon as 
they were made known. The arrangement was severely criti- 
cised, and the ministry were reprehendedf for concluding it, both 
in and out of Parliament ; and the consciousness that these opin- 
ions were just, rendered the British Government more severe and 
uncompromising in its exactions from Spain upon the occasion of 
the dispute respecting Nootka Sound in 1790. The similarity 
of the circumstances which led to these two disputes, and the 
identity of the principles maintained by each party at both peri- 
ods, rendered it proper to introduce the foregoing accounts and 
observations respecting the difficulties between Spain and Great 



* Governor Powrtal, in the debate in Parliament, March 5th, 1771, (see Parlia- 
mentary History, vol. xvi, page 1394,) on his motion for censuring the ministry on 
account of the arrangement with Spain, says: "Without some such idea as this, 
namely, that as soon as reparation is made to our honor for the violent and hostile 
manner in which we were driven off the island, and as soon as we are put in a situa- 
tion to evacuate it on our own motion, it is tacitly understood we are to cede it — with- 
out some such idea as this, the whole of the negotiation is inexplicable and unintel- 
ligible." To this no reply was made on the part of the ministry. 

t In the debate in the House of Peers upon the address approving the arrange- 
ment with Spain, Lord Chatham used this language: "There never was a more 
odious or more infamous falsehood imposed upon a great nation. It degrades the 
King; it insults the Parliament. His Majesty has been advised to affirm an abso- 
lute falsehood. My Lords, I beg your attention ; and I hope to be understood when 
I repeat that it is an absolute falsehood. The King of Spain disowns the thief, 
while he leaves him unpunished and profits by his theft." In the protest against the 
arrangement entered into in the House of Lords by Lords Chatham, Lansdowne, 
and other eminent members, it is averred that in the declaration and acceptance 
" no claim on the part of his Majesty to the right of sovereignty t© any part of the 
island ceded to him has been advanced ; and any assertion whatsoever of his Majes- 
ty's right of sovereignty has been studiously avoided from the beginning to the 
end," &c. See Junius's letter of January 30, 1771 ; and Johnson's Defence of the 
Ministry, which is generally supposed to have been dictated by Lord North. 



57 



[174 j 



Britain in 1T70 ; otherwise they would have been out of place in 1774. 
this memoir. 

The issue of this dispute served to impress the Spanish Gov- 1771 
ernment still more strongly with the conviction of the necessity to 
of occupying the vacant coasts adjoining its American provinces, 1 
either effectively, or in such a manner as to afford at least the 
semblance of right to the exclusive possession of them. Efforts 
with this view were accordingly made on the shores of Texas, 
Mosquito, Patagonia, and California; and were continued at a 
great expense, though with little success, until 1779, when the 
war between Spain and Great Britain occasioned their suspension. 

The settlements of the Spaniards on the west coast of Califor- 
nia were, and continued to be until within a few years past, lit- 
tle more than missionary stations under the direction of Francis- 
can friars ; some of them were, however, styled Presidios, in vir- 
tue of their possessing mud forts garrisoned by a few miserable 
soldiers. The most northern of these establishments was that 
on the Bay of San Francisco, founded in 1776 ; the residence of 
the Governor was, and still is, at Monterey. m 

The British Government, on its part, although abandoning the 
Falkland Islands, still persevered in endeavoring to have the Pa- 
cific minutely explored. For this purpose, Captain Cook was 
despatched on his second voyage around the world, from which 1 772 | 
he returned in 1775 ; having in the mean time made many im- 
portant discoveries, and completely disproved the rumors, based 
upon the declarations of the Spanish navigator Quiros in 1607, 
respecting the existence of a habitable continent south of the Pa- 
cific and Indian Oceans. 

In 1774 and 1775 the northwest coast of America was explored ^J 4 
by Spanish navigators between the 43d degree of latitude, the limit 1779. 
of preceding discoveries from the south, and the 58th ; and in 1778 
and 1779 the remaining portions, as far north as the Arctic Sea, 
were examined by the British, under Cook and his successors in 
command. Before relating these important occurrences, it will be 
convenient to present a view of the discoveries which had been 
made by the Russians in the northernmost parts of the Pacific, 
as the objects and movements of the other two nations, with re- 
gard to this section of the world, will thereby be rendered more 
easily intelligible. 



* For statistical accounts of these establishments, as they existed at the beginning 
of the present century, see Humboldt's Essay on New Spain. 



[174] 



58 



CHAPTER III. 

Voyages of discovery and trade in the northernmost parts of the Pacific made by 
the Russians from' Kamschatka and Ochotsk, between 1728 and 1779 — Voyages 
of Beering and Tschirikof— Establishment of the fur trade befween Asiatic 
Russia and the opposite coasts and islands of America — Voyages of Synd. Kren- 
itzin, Levasheff, and Benyowsky. 

Before the beginning of the eighteenth century, the coasts of 
Asia bordering upon the Pacific, north of the 40th degree of lati- 
tude, were as little known as those of America beyond the same 
parallel. At that time, the only information respecting the former 
territories was derived from the reports of Martin Geritzen de 
Vries, a Dutch navigator, who had in 1643 explored the seas north 
of Japan as far as the 48th degree, and had doubtless entered the 
gulf bounded by the Kurile Islands and Kamschatka on the 
east, which is now called the Sea of Ochotsk. In the best maps, # 
published as lately as 1T20, Jesso, the most northern of the Jap- 
anese islands, is represented as part of the continent of Asia ; 
while the Kurile group are laid down as a continuous territory, 
under the name of the Company 's land, separated from Jesso by a 
passage called the Strait of Vries. 

Such was the state of geographical knowledge with regard to 
the northeastern coasts of Asia in 1696, when the Cossacks, who 
had been sent by Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, to explore and 
! conquer the northern parts of that continent, discovered Kam- 
schatka, and penetrated to the shores of the Pacific. Within the 
ensuing fifteen years, Kamschatka and the whole region interve- 
ning between it and Europe were definitively attached to the 
Russian empire. 

From these conquests the Russians acquired, among other ad- 
vantages, an extension of their commercial intercourse with Chi- 
na, which thus in a short time became very important. The 
principal articles of export to that country were the skins and 
fursf of animals, which were obtained either in Siberia and Kam- 
schatka, or by way of England from Hudson's Bay ; in return, the 
Russians brought from China its teas, silks, porcelain, and other 
precious commodities. This commercial intercourse was effected 
by means of caravans passing over land to and from certain points 



* See historical and geographical atlas of Mitchell and Senex, published at 
London in 1620. 

t Furs have been at all periods highly prized in China as objects of comfort and 
luxury. In the northern provinces they are used as defences against cold ; while 
throughout the empire they constitute an important part of the dress of every rich 
noble or ostentatious person. " With the least change of air," says Krusenstern, 
"the Chinese immediately alter their dress; and even at Canton, which is under 
the tropic, they wear furs in the winter.''' 



59 



[174] 



in each empire ; and when we consider the immense distance, iG9G. 
and the difficulties of the journey between the commercial cities 
of European Russia and those of China, it becomes evident that 
none but objects of great value, in comparison to their bulk, could 
have been thus transported with profit to those engaged. 

The possession of these vast regions only served to inspire the nn. 
ambitious Czar with designs for the extension of his authority 
over other portions of the earth. Finding his dominions limited 
by the ocean in the east, he was anxious to know what territories 
lay beyond that barrier, and whether it would not be possible for 
him to invade from that quarter the establishments of the French, 
the British, or the Spaniards in America. Influenced by such 
views, he ordered that vessels should be built in Kamschatka, 
and equipped for voyages of discovery to be made agreeably to 
instructions which he himself drew up ; while, in the mean time, 
other vessels should proceed from Archangel eastward, to explore 
the Arctic or Icy Sea and the northern coasts of Asia. 

At the period when this plan was arranged by Peter the Great, 
it was not known whether Asia and America were united by land 
in the north, or were separated by means of a connexion between 
the Pacific and the Icy Sea ; nor had it indeed been ascertained 
that the waters which bathed the shores of Kamschatka commu- 
nicated directly with the Pacific, although this was considered 
most probable from the traditions that large ships had been 
wrecked upon those shores. The solution of these great geo- 
graphical questions was the first object proposed by the Czar in 
the expeditions ; the next being to discover the most practicable 
means of reaching the possessions of other European nations in 
America. 

Various circumstances prevented the execution of any of these 
projects during the lifetime of Peter. His widow and successor, 1725. 
Catherine, however, resolved to carry them into fulfilment ; and 
a small vessel was at length, in 1728, built and equipped at the 17-28. 
mouth of the river of Kamschatka, on the eastern side of that 
peninsula, for a voyage agreeably to the instructions of the Czar. 
The command of the expedition was intrusted to Vitus Beering, 
a Dane, who had been selected for the purpose by Peter on ac- 
count of his approved courage and nautical skill ; his lieutenants 
were Alexei Tschirikof, a Russian, and Martin Spanberg, a Ger- 
man, both of whom afterwards rose to eminence as navigators. 

Beering sailed from Kamschatka on the 14th of July, 1T28, July U. 
and took a northward course along the Asiatic shore, which he 
traced as far as the latitude of 67 degrees 1 8 minutes. There he 
found the coast turning almost directly eastward, and presenting August 15. 
nothing but rocks and snow as far as it could be perceived, while 
no land was visible in the north or the east. From these circum- 
stances, the navigator concluded that he had reached the north- 
eastern extremity of Asia, and that the waters in which he was 
then sailing were those of the Icy Sea. Conceiving, therefore, 
that he had attained the objects of his voyage in this direction, 
and fearing that if he should proceed farther he might be obliged 
to winter in this desolate region, for which he was unprepared, 



L 174] 



60 



1728. he returned to Kamsehatka, where he arrived in safety on the 
Sept. 2. 2d of September. In this voyage Beering had twice, without 

knowing it, passed within a few miles of the American continent, 
through the narrow strait upon which his name was, fifty years 
afterwards, generously bestowed by Cook. 

1729. In the succeeding year Beering sailed again from Kamschat- 
June 5. ka, and, taking an eastward course, endeavored to find the Amer- 
ican continent. Ere he had advanced far in that direction, how- 
July 23. ever, he was assailed by violent adverse winds, which forced him 

1729 around the southern extremity of the peninsula into the Sea of 
t0 Ochotsk. After this repulse, he went to St. Petersburg, and en- 

1741. gaged in no other expedition of discovery for twelve years. 

While Beering was thus remaining inactive at the Russian 
capital, the existence of a direct communication between the Pa- 
cific and the sea which bathes the shores of Kamsehatka was as- 

1729. certained, first by the shipwreck of a Japanese vessel on the 
to eastern side of that peninsula in 1729, and ten years afterwards by 
' the voyages of two Russian vessels, under the command, respec- 
tively, of Martin Spanberg and William Walton, through the pas- 
sages between the Kurile Islands to Japan. Within the same pe- 
riod, also, the continuity of the Pacific with the Atlantic through 
the Icy Sea, which the discoveries of Beering had given reason to 
suspect, was rendered nearly if not absolutely certain by means of 
expeditions, partly by land and partly by sea, along the northern 
coasts of Europe and Asia ; all the attempts, however, made at that 
time, and since, to pass with vessels around those coasts, from ports 
in Europe to the Pacific, proved abortive. Moreover, a Russian, 

1732. named Krupisheff, had sailed, in 1732, from Kamsehatka north- 
ward, as far as the extreme point of the Asiatic shore reached by 
Beering in his first voyage ; thence he had been driven by storms 
towards the east, upon the coast of an extensive and mountainous 
territory which was supposed to be, and undoubtedly was, a part of 
America. Thus the great geographical questions proposed by the 
Czar Peter were determined, and the practicability of a com- 
munication by sea between the Russian dominions in Asia and 
the Spanish possessions in America was satisfactorily proved. 

1740. These discoveries encouraged the Empress Anne, who occupied 
the throne of Russia when they were completed, to persevere in 
endeavoring to extend her authority farther eastward ; and she 
accordingly commissioned Beering in 1740 to superintend anoth- 
er expedition from Kamsehatka in search of America. For this 
purpose two vessels were built in the Bay of Avatscha, on the 
southeast side of Kamsehatka, which had been selected for the 
establishment of a marine depot ; they were larger and more fully 
equipped than any of those employed in preceding voyages of 
discovery in that quarter, and scientific men were engaged in 
France and Germany to accompany Beering, so that precise in- 
formation might be obtained on all points connected with the seas 
and territories to be explored. Before the preparations were all 
made, the Empress Anne died; but her successor, Elizabeth, the 
daughter of Peter the Great, immediately declared in favor of the 
enterprise, and, no delays being experienced, the vessels were 



61 



[174] 



both ready for sea by June, 1741. On the 4th of that month they 1741. 
sailed from the Bay of Avatscha ; the larger being commanded by 
Beering, and the other by Tschirikof, who had accompanied the 
Dane in his other voyages. On leaving the harbor, the vessels 
took a directly eastern course, and thus continued in company 
until the 21st of June ; on that day they were separated during a 
storm, after which they never again met. 

The only regular accounts which we have of Beeiing's voyage, 
after his separation from Tschirikof, are contained in the Journal 
of Steller, the surgeon and naturalist of the ship. # This journal 
is by no means sufficiently precise upon points of navigation and 
geography ; in consequence of which, it has been impossible to 
identify many of the spots described by him as discovered during 
the voyage, although the general course of the vessel may be 
traced. 

From these accounts we learn that Beering, after parting with 
Tschirikof, continued on his course eastward, without meeting 
with any thing worthy of note until the 15th of July ; on which July 15. 
day, land was seen in the north, near the 60th degree of latitude. 
The part first descried was the summit of a mountain, the ex- 
traordinary elevation of which may be surmised from the fact that 
it became visible at the distance of more than eighty miles. As 
they sailed towards this point, the Russians perceived succes- 
sively other lofty peaks, and then ridges of mountains, all covered 
with snow, and stretching along the coasts, as well as into the 
interior of the country, to the utmost limits of the view ; and, upon 
drawing nearer to the land, they found a large river emptying 
into the sea, the current of which was felt several miles from its 
mouth, f 

These evidences of the extensiveness of the territory, toge- 
ther with its geographical position, were sufficient to convince 
the Russians that they had at length reached the American con- 
tinent. Many of the officers immediately expressed to the com- 
mander their wishes that he would pursue the discovery to- 
wards the southeast, in which direction the coast appeared to turn ; 
but Beering was then laboring under severe illness, and was 
anxious to arrive in Kamschatka before the winter, in conse- j u iy 19. 
quence of which he gave orders that they should take a west- 
ern course. On the 20th of the month they anchored in a nar- July 20. 
row passage between the continent and a small island, on which 
latter they landed in search of water. There they found sev- 
eral huts, which appeared to have been recently abandoned by 
their occupants, and various implements similar to those used in 
Kamschatka; none of the natives, however, were to be seen, and 
the Russians, having obtained a supply of water, set sail again on July 21. 
the following^day. 



* Steller's Journal was first published in the original German by Professor Pallas 
in 1795; before which time, all that was known of Beering's voyage to America 
was contained in a meagre and incorrect abstract of this Jou rnal in Muller's Collec- 
tions of Russian Histoty. A translation of the most material parts of the account 
may be fonnd in Coxe's History of Russian Discoveries, page 20. 

t No such river has been sinee found in that part of America. 



[ 174] 



62 



nil. According to Steller, the name of St. Elias was bestowed by 
the Russians on the most prominent point of this island, in honor 
of the patron of the day on which they reached it. The old ac- 
counts of the expedition, however, state that Beering gave that 
name to the lofty mountain which had first attracted his attention. 
Steller is more probably correct, as the 20th of July is the day of 
Saint Elias, agreeably to the calendar of the Greek church. The 
stupendous peak rising on the northwest coast of America, near 
the 60th degree of latitude, and distinguished on our maps as 
Mount Saint Elias , received that appellation in 1778 from Cook, 
who considered it to be, as it doubtless was, the same observed 
by Beering in 1741. Vancouver, who examined this coast mi- 
nutely in 1794, was convinced that the place in which the Rus- 
sians first anchored is on the eastern side of the entrance to a bay, 
now generally known as Beering' and sometimes called Admi- 
ralty Bay. 

July 21. From the island on which they had first touched, the Russians 
proceeded towards the west ; frequently seeing land in the north, 
but seldom going near enough to enable them to distinguish its 

Aug. 3. character. On the 3d of August, in the latitude of 56 degrees, a 
chain of high mountains appeared ahead, stretching across the 
horizon ; and as they knew that Kamschatka was still far dis- 
tant, they concluded that the land before them was either a great 
island, or a peninsula extending southward from the American 
continent. They in consequence altered their course to a south- 
ern one, in order thus to reach the latitude of 53 degrees, where 
they were sure of finding the sea open on the west as far as Avat- 
scha. The distance was short, but they were so much impeded 
in their progress by contrary winds and currents, as well as by 
their fears of running upon shoals and small islands, that by the 

Aug. 29. end of the month they had scarcely advanced fifty miles upon 
their way. By this time the crew began to surfer from sickness 
and fatigue, and, in order to give them rest and to procure fresh 
water, Beering again anchored near some islands, on which they 
remained ashore for several days. While they were lying at this 

Aug. 31. place, the first death occurred among them ; in commemoration 
of which, the group of islands received the name of the deceased 
sailor, aud have ever since been known as Schumagin's Isles.* 
Here, also, natives of America were first seen by the Russians ; 
they resembled the Tschutzki, or aboriginals of northeastern 
Asia, in their features and habits ; and it was remarked that they 
used implements of iron, which have since been found to be com- 
mon among all the inhabitants of Northwest America. 

Sept- After leaving Schumagin's Islands, the Russians discovered 
others ,f extending in a chain westward, nearly in the course of 
the 53d parallel of latitude, which they passed without landing 
on them, being anxious to reach Kamschatka before the begin- 



* They are in number twelve, and are situated near the latitude of 55k degrees, 
on the eastern side, and not far Irorn the southern extremity of the great peninsula 
of Aliaska. 

t The Fox Islands, called Unalashka. Unimak, &c. 



63 



C 174 ] 



ning of the stormy season. In this expectation they were dis- 1741, 
appointed. About the middle of September they were assailed Sept. 
by a furious tempest, and for several weeks were driven over the 
sea at random, while famine, disease, and despair were daily les- 
sening their numbers. At length, on the 5th of November they 
again saw land in the latitude of 55 degrees ; it proved to be an 
island, and on it they resolved, at all hazards, to pass the winter. 
With this view, they landed their stores and other necessaries, Nov. 7. 
and began to construct habitations out of sails and spars ; they 
soon, however, had an abundant supply of building materials 
from the wreck of fcheir vessel, which was driven ashore and 
dashed to pieces by the waves. 

On the 8th of December Beering expired, worn down by sick- Dec. 8, 
ness and fatigue ; and thirty of his men were successively con- 
signed to their graves on the island before the ensuing summer. 1742. 
Nearly all these deaths Were occasioned by scurvy, with which 
the whole crew were affected when they landed ; the survivors 
were restored to health by the free use of fresh water, and sup- 
ported themselves chiefly on the meat of sea and land animals, of 
which they killed great numbers during their stay. Upon the 
return of mild weather, they began to build a small vessel out April, 
of the pieces of the wreck, which they got ready for sea in Au- 
gust. On the 14th of that month they departed in their frail boat Aug. 14 
from the western side of the island ; two days afterwards they Aug. 16 
made the coast of Kamschatka ; and on the evening of the 21st Aug. 21. 
they landed, forty- six in all, at the place from which they had 
sailed in the Bay of Avatscha. The island, where they had thus 
passed more than nine months, is a long and narrow slip of land, 
situated between the parallels of 55 and 56, about eighty miles 
from the east coast of Kamschatka ; it has ever since been called 
Beering' '5 Isle. 

Such were the occurrences of Beering's last voyage. The 1741. 
other vessel employed in this expedition under Tschirikof, like- 
wise pursuing an eastward course, came upon land on the 15th July 15. 
of July, in the latitude of 56 degrees. The territory thus discov- 
ered extended on the ocean from north to south ; it was covered 
with high mountains, and its coasts were steep and rocky. As 
the weather was unfavorable for approaching the land, Tschirikof 
cast anchor at the distance of some miles from it, and sent ten 
men in a boat to make examinations ; after some time, these men 
not returning nor making any signals from the shore, a second 
boat with six others of the crew was despatched in the same di- 
rection. Neither of these parties ever returned, nor was any thing 
learned respecting their fate ; although their commander remained 
for several days cruising near the coast, in hope that they would 
make their appearance. This hope having entirely vanished, 
Tschirikof quitted the coast which he had discovered, and set July 27. 
sail for Kamschatka. His voyage homeward was attended with 
great difficulties, from constant storms, and from the sickness of 
his crew ; at length, on the 8th of October, he reached the Bay Oct. 8. 
of Avatscha, having lost twenty one men by scurvy, in addition 
to the sixteen whose fate was not determined. 



[ 174] 



64 



1741. The land discovered by Tschirikof in 1741 must have been, 
agreeably to his statement of its latitude and bearings, the west- 
ern side of one of the islands contiguous to the American con- 
tinent, which are now called on English maps the Prince of 
Wales's Archipelago. The inhabitants of these islands are fierce 
and treacherous, and have always displayed the most uncom- 
promising animosity against foreigners ; it is therefore most prob- 
able that the men sent ashore by Tschirikof were murdered as 
soon as they landed. 

1741 The discoveries effected by Beering and Tschirikof in this ex- 
17 g 4 pedition were not considered by the Russian Government of suffi- 
cient importance to justify the immediate despatch of other vessels 
towards the American coasts; and accordingly no farther attempts 
were made by its orders to explore the north Pacific until 1766. 
In the mean time, however, accidental circumstances connected 
with Beering's voyage had turned the attention of private indi- 
viduals in Kamschatka to the islands seen by that navigator on 
his return, and the part of the ocean in which those islands are 
situated had been thoroughly searched. 

1742. It has been mentioned that the crew of Beering's vessel had, 
during the period passed by them on an island near Kamschatka, 
subsisted chiefly on the flesh of the land and sea animals which 
they found there in great numbers. The skins of these animals, 
particularly of the foxes and sea -otters, were preserved by the 
men, and carried in their boat to Kamschatka, where they were 
sold for such high prices that many persons were induced imme- 
diately to go to the island and procure farther supplies. In the 
course of the voyages made for this purpose, other islands were 
discovered, offering the same advantages ; and the number of per- 
sons engaged in the search for furs was increased. 

1741 The trade thus commenced was for some time carried on by 
to individual adventurers, each of whom, acting only for his own 

1764, benefit, was alternately a seaman, a hunter, and a merchant. At 
length, however, some capitalists in Siberia employed their funds 
in the pursuit ; and the expeditions to the islands were in conse- 
quence made on a more extensive scale, and were conducted with 
greater regularity and efficiency. Trading stations were estab- 
lished at particular points, where the furs were collected by per- 
sons left there for the purpose ; and vessels were sent at certain 
periods, from the ports of Asiatic Russia, to carry the articles re- 
quired for the use of the agents, or for barter with the natives of 
the islands, and to bring away the skins which had been pro- 
cured. 

The aborigines of the islands were a bold and savage race, 
whom it was found almost impossible to subdue or to conciliate ; 
they attacked and murdered the strangers whenever an opportu- 
nity was offered, and the Russians appear to have treated them, 
in return, with great cruelty and oppression. In the smaller 
islands, the natives were soon extirpated or reduced to absolute 
slavery by the traders, who employed every means to force them 
to hunt and fish for the animals yielding the furs. The poor sav- 
ages were required by their taskmasters to procure a certain num 



65 



[ 174] 



ber of skins during each season; for the delivery of which, and 1741 
for their quiet behavior in the mean time, they were obliged to to 
give up their children as hostages. In the larger islands, where 1764 
' the mountains afforded facilities for retreat or defence to the in- 
habitants, wars were constantly going on between them and the 
strangers. 

In addition to the miseries and loss of human life thus occa- 
sioned, a large proportion of the persons engaged in the collection 
and conveyance of the furs were annually destroyed by cold, star- 
vation, shipwreck, and especially by scurvy. The history of the 
first establishment of the Russians in this quarter of the world is, 
indeed, little else than a series of accounts of dreadful disasters 
and sufferings ; and whatever may be our opinions with regard 

|l to the humanity of the adventurers, or the morality of their enter- 
prises, we cannot but admire the courage and perseverance which 
they displayed in struggling against such appalling difficulties.* 
The islands thus discovered and conquered by the Russian fur- 
traders were those between the 53d and the 55th parallels of lat- 
itude, extending in a regular line or chain from the vicinity of 
Kamschatka, eastward across the sea, to the extremity of the op- 
posite American peninsula of Aliaska. They were at first known 
by the general name of Aleyutsky, or Aleutian Islands ; at pres- 

\ ent, however, they are considered as divided into three groups, 

i the most western of which retains the name of Aleutian, the mid- 
dle group being called the Andreanowsky , and the most eastern 
the Fox Islands. The latter division includes Unalashka, Umnak, 
and Unimak, the largest and most important islands of the chain ; 
at a short distance northeast from these are the Schumagin Islands, 
discovered by Beering, and named after one of his crew ; and still 
farther in the same direction is Kodiak or Kuktak, the largest 
island in this part of the Pacific. Kodiak was the extreme point 
to which the fur-traders had penetrated in 1778; before that time 
the only portion of the American continent frequented by them 
was the coast of Aliaska, which they believed to be an island. 

As the traders had no instruments for determining latitudes or 
longitudes with precision, their ideas of the relative situations of 

'i places in the north Pacific were exceedingly vague and incor- 
rect. Their navigation was conducted in the most inartificial 

! manner possible. A vessel sailing eastward from the Bay of Avat- 

j scha, or the southern extremity of Kamschatka, could not pro- 
ceed far without falling in with one of the islands of the Aleutian 

f\ chain, which would serve as a mark for her course to another; 
and thus she might go on from point to point, until she reached 
the place of her destination. In like manner she would return to 
Asia ; and, if her course and rate of sailing were observed with tol- 
erable attention, there could seldom be any uncertainty whether 
she were north or south of the line of the islands. A great number 



* The narratives of many of these expeditions of the Russian fur-traders may be 
found in Coxe's interesting " Account of Russian Discoveries." Krusenstern, in 
the narrative of his voyage to the north Pacific, stales that at least one-third of the 
vessels employed in this trade were lost every year. See pdstea, chapter viii. 



174] 66 

1741 of vessels were, however, lost every year, in consequence of this 

i7fu want °f knowledge respecting the coasts, and want of means to 
ascertain positions at sea. 

The Russian Government remained for some time unacquaint- 
ed with the extent of this trade, and, indeed, with the existence 

1764. of the islands discovered by its subjects. At length, in 1764, the 
Empress Catherine II. ordered that measures should be taken to 
procure exact information upon these points, as also with regard 
to the general direction of the west coasts of America, and their 
distance from those of her own dominions in Asia. This ambi- 
tious Sovereign had then just ascended the throne, and seemed 
determined to carry into fulfilment the designs of Peter the Great 
for the extension of the Russian empire beyond the Pacific. 

1766. The first voyage made by order of Catherine II. for these pur- 
poses was that of Lieutenant Synd, who in 1T66 and 1767 sailed 
through the seas northeast of Kamschatka. Very few particulars 
concerning his expedition have been published, from the cir- 
cumstance, probably, that they were not calculated to reflect cred- 
it on the nation. By the accounts which have transpired, it ap- 
pears that he proceeded northwardly, along the Asiatic shore, 
into the Arctic Ocean ; and that he may have seen the American 
continent, about the 64th degree of latitude, as he was returning. 

1768. In the following year, 1768, another expedition was com- 
menced, for the purpose of surveying the islands discovered by the 
fur-traders. With this view, Captain Krenitzin and Lieutenant 

ruly 23. Levashef sailed from the mouth of Kamschatka river, each in 
fuly 27. command of a small vessel ; and, after examining Beering's 
Island, and some others nearest the coast of Asia, they stretched 
across to the Fox Islands, among which they passed the winter. 
Before the ensuing summer nearly half the crews of both vessels 
had perished from scurvy ; and when the navigators returned to 

1769. Kamschatka in the autumn of 1769, they had only ascertained ap- 
proximately the positions of a few points in the chain of islands be- 
tween that peninsula and Aliaska. It is, indeed, said that Krenitzin 
employed himself entirely in trading for furs, with which his ves- 
sel was laden when she came back from her voyage. The only 
valuable information derived by the Russian Government from 
this costly expedition was respecting the mode of conducting the 
fur trade in the islands ; upon this subject the reports of Levashef 
were curious and interesting, and they served to direct the Gov- 
ernment in its first administrative dispositions with regard to 
these countries. 

The expedition of Krenitzin and Levashef was the last made 
by the Russians in the north Pacific, for purposes of discovery or 

1771. investigation, before 1783. In 1771, however, took place the first 
voyage from the eastern coast of the Russian empire, to a port 
frequented by the ships of European nations; and, strange to say, 
this voyage was conducted under the Polish flag! In the month 
of May of that year, a small number of persons, chiefly Poles, 
who had been exiled to Kamschatka, succeeded in overpowering 
the garrison of Bolscheretsk, a place situated on the southwest 

May ii. side of that peninsula, in which they were detained, and escaped 



67 



[ 174] 



to sea in a vessel then lying in the harbor. They were directed 1771. 
in their enterprise by Count Maurice de Benyowsky, a Hunga- 
rian, who had been in the Polish service, and who afterwards 
wrote a history of his own life. # From his accounts, it appears 
that the fugitives, upon entering the Pacific, were driven north- 
wardly along the coast of Asia, as far as the 66th degree of lat- 
itude, during which part of their voyage they also saw the 

i American continent. At Beering's Island, which they visited, j un(: . 
they found a number of fugitives like themselves, established in 
possession, under the command of a Saxon named Ochotyn ; 
they also landed on several of the Aleutian Islands, where they 
discovered crosses with inscriptions, which had been erected by 
Krenitzin while on his expedition. Proceeding towards the 
south, they touched in succession at various places in the Ku- 
rile, Japanese, and Loochoo Islands, and in Formosa, and at 
length arrived in September at Canton. Benyowsky's accounts Sept. 26. 
were at first discredited; they have, however, been since con- 
firmed as regards the most material circumstances. 

In 1774, a work entitled " A Description of the New Archipel- 1774. 
ago of the North, discovered by the Russians, beyond Kamschatka, 
by J. L. Strcehlin, Councillor of State to the Empress of Russia" 
was published at St. Petersburg, under the immediate direction 
of the Government. Accounts coming from such a source were 
universally considered as authentic and accurate ; the work was 
translated into all the principal languages of Europe, and it served 
as the basis for all maps and descriptions of the north Pacific 
Ocean until 1785. According to Stroehlin, the American coast 
extended on the Pacific, from the southern extremity of Califor- 
nia, in a line nearly due northwestward, to the 70th degree of 
latitude. Between the most northern part of this coast and the 
opposite shores of Asia were placed on his map a number of is- 
lands, several of which correspond in name with those of the 
Aleutian chain; but the positions there assigned to them were 
very different from those now known to be correct. Aliaska was 
represented as an island lying beyond the 55th parallel, and sep- 

|| arated from each of the adjacent continents by a strait. In the 
large and beautifully engraved Latin map of the Russian Empire, 
by Treschot and Schmidt, published in 1776, on which the coasts 

i of Asia are all laid down with great apparent precision, no land 
except the Aleutian Islands appears east of Kamschatka, within 

; 25 degrees of longitude. 

The errors of latitude in these maps amounted, in many cases, 
to ten degrees, and those of longitude were, as might have been 
expected, much greater. Indeed, until 1778, when Cook made 
• his voyage through the north Pacific, the differences in longitude 
between places in that part of the ocean had never been esti- 
mated, except by the dead reckoning^ which, however carefully 



* Memoirs and Travels of Count Mauritius Augustus de Benyowsky, written by 
himself. 2 vols, octavo: London, 1790. 

t That is, " by keeping an account of the distance run by the log, and of her course 
steered by ihe compass, and rectifying these data by the usual allowances for drilt 3 
lee- way, &c, according to the ship's known trim." — Falconer's Marine Dictionary, 



[ 1^4 ] 



68 



1774. observed, cannot afford accurate results; nor had any relation, 
which could be considered as nearly correct, been established be- 
tween the meridians of a point on the Atlantic and of one on the 
north Pacific. The above remarks on the extent of the informa- 
tion with regard to the northwest coast of America possessed in 
1774, by those who had taken the greatest pains to procure it, 
will serve to show more clearly the value of the discoveries ef- 
fected by the Spanish and British navigators during the five 
years immediately succeeding that period. It may be added, that 
no further attempts were made by the Russians to increase their 
knowledge of this part of the world until 1783. 



[174] 



CHAPTER IT. 

Voyages of discovery in the north Pacific, made by the Spaniards and the British, 
between 1774 and 1779 — Voyages of Perez, Heceta, Bodega, and Cook— Journeys 
through the northern parts of America, made by Hearne and Carver. 

In the preceding pages, it has been shown that, before 1774, 
the Spaniards had examined the western coast of America as far 
north as the 43d degree of latitude ; and the Russians, sailing east- 
ward across the Pacific, from their dominions in Asia, had dis- 
covered beyond the 55th degree many islands, as well as other 
territories, which were supposed to be parts of the first mentioned 
continent. Respecting the portion of the American coast in- 
cluded between these two parallels of latitude, no definite ac- 
counts had been obtained, although it was probably visited by 
European navigators during the latter years of the sixteenth cen- 
tury. The discoveries of the Russians had served to prove that 
the two great continents were entirely separated from each other 
by the ocean, but they had afforded little information as to the 
extension and limits of America in the northwest ; and few of 
the conjectures based upon them have been confirmed by subse- 
quent observations. 

In 1774, the Spaniards attempted, for the first time since the 
days of Vizcaino, to explore this coast beyond the 43d degree of 
latitude. For that purpose, the corvette Santiago was despatched 
by the Viceroy of Mexico from San Bias, under the command of 
Juan Perez, an ensign in the Spanish navy, with Estevan Jose 
Martinez as pilot They were ordered to proceed, if possible, as 
far as the 60th degree of latitude, and thence to examine the 
shores southward to Monterey. 

Of this expedition a very imperfect account only can be pre- 
sented. The Spanish Government carefully concealed all in- 
formation respecting it until 1802, when a short sketch of the 
principal occurrences appeared in the Introduction to the Narra- 
tive of the Voyage of the Schooners Sutil and Mexicana, which 
was in that year published at Madrid, by authority of the King. 
In addition to this official notice, a few particulars have been 
communicated by Baron Humboldt, in his Essay on New Spain, 
as derived from the original Journal of Fathers Crespi and Pena, 
the chaplains of the Santiago, which he was permitted to inspect 
at Mexico. From these, the only sources of knowledge on the 
subject, the following account of the voyage of Perez has been 
drawn. 

From San Bias, Perez sailed first to Monterey, and thence bob- Jan. 25. 
tinued his voyage towards the north, keeping at a distance from 
the coast, in order to reach a high latitude before the coM weather 
should commence. The land next seen by him was near the 
6 



[174] 



70 



1774. 54th parallel, and must have been the northwestern part of Queen 
July 20. charlotte's Island. After a cursory examination of this coast, he 

proceeded towards the south, occasionally seeing the land ; and 
Aug. 9. at. length, in the latitude of 49J degrees, he discovered and en- 
tered a bay, to which he gave the name of Port San Lorenzo. m 
Here he traded with the natives, who surrounded his vessel in 
great numbers, offering the skins of animals in return for articles 
of iron, with which metal they were already acquainted. From 
this bay Perez sailed on the 10th of August ; and as he arrived 
at Monterey on the 27th of the same month, it is not probable 
that he examined very minutely the coast lying between the two 
places. Martinez, the pilot of the ship, however, in 1789, asserted 
that a passage extending eastwardly between the 48th and 49th 
parallels had been found, and entered by his commander soon 
after quitting Port San Lorenzo ; upon the strength of which as- 
sertion, Navarrete assigns to Perez the discovery of the arm of the 
sea now called the Strait of Fuca, and in his map bestows the 
name of Point Martinez on the cape at the southern side of its 
entrance. 

From this account of the voyage of Perez, it will be seen that 
little information was obtained by him with regard to the north- 
west coast of America. If the latitude of Port San Lorenzo be 
correctly reported in the accounts of the expedition, (and we have 
no reason for supposing otherwise,) that bay must have been the 
same to which Cook, four years afterwards, gave the name of 
King George's Sound, and which is now known as Nootka Sound, 
The Spanish Government, however, by concealing all accounts 
of the voyage of Perez until long after the publication of the jour- 
nals of Cook, deprived itself of the means of establishing the 
claims of its subjects to the merit of the discovery, which is al- 
most universally attributed to the British navigator. 

1775. Immediately after the return of Perez, the Viceroy of Mexico } 
Don Antonio Bucareli, ordered that another expedition should be 
made to the north Pacific, for the purpose of examining the whole 
shore of the continent, from Cape Mendocino as far, if possible, 
as the 65th degree of latitude. With this view, the Santiago was 
placed under the command of Captain Bruno Heceta, Juan Perez 
going in her as ensign ; and she was to be accompanied by the 
Sonora, a schooner of not more than thirty tons burden, of which 
Juan de Ayala was the chief officer, and Antonio Maurelle the 
pilot. From the Journal of Maurelle, as translated into English 
by the honorable Daines Barrington, and published at London in 
1781, nearly all that is known respecting the expedition has been 
derived. This Journal is confined almost entirely to the occur- 
rences on board of the schooner; concerning the movements of 
the Santiago, we have only a few indistinct notices, in the Intro- 
duction to the Narrative of the Voyage of the Sutil and Mexicana. 
The most material facts collected from these sources are the fol- 
lowing : 



* The 10th of August is the day of San Lorenzo, (St. Lawrence,) according to the 
Roman Catholic Calendar. 



71 



[ 174] 



The two vessels having been provisioned for a voyage of a 1775. 
year, sailed together from San Bias, in company with the schooner Mar. 16. 
San Carlos, which was bound for Monterey. Ere the latter ves- 
sel had proceeded far from the land, her captain became delirious ; 
in consequence of which, Juan de Ayala was ordered to take his 
place, Lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega succeeding to the 
command of the Sonora. This circumstance is here mentioned, 
because, in nearly all the accounts of the voyage, Ayala is repre- 
sented as the principal officer in command, whereas he in fact 
only accompanied the exploring vessels to the vicinity of Mon- 
terey.* 

The exploring vessels, after parting with the San Carlos, made 
Cape Mendocino on the 7th of June, and on the 10th cast anchor June 7. 
in a small cove just beyond that promontory, in the latitude of 41 
degrees 3 minutes. At this place, which was named Port Trin- 
idad^ the Spaniards remained nine days, employed in refitting 
their vessels and taking, in water. During this time, they held 
communications with the natives of the country, who appeared to 
be a mild and tractable race ; and on their departure, they erected 
a cross near the shore, with an inscription setting forth the period 
of their visit, and the rights of their Sovereign to the surround- 
ing territory, founded upon the discovery. This cross was seen 
standing by Vancouver, who landed there in 1793 ; the English 
navigator did not, however, consider the place as meriting the 
name of a port. 

On leaving Port Trinidad, the Spaniards kept at a distance June 19. 
from the land, beating against contrary winds, until the 9th of 
July, when, finding themselves in the latitude in which Juan 
de Puca was said to have discovered a strait leading eastward July 9. 
through the continent, they sailed to the coast in order to ascer- 
tain the truth of the account. Proceeding in that direction, they July 11. 
soon saw the land, which, from its situation as described, must 
have been the southwest side of the great island of Vancouver 
and Quadra, at the entrance of the passage now called Fuca's 
Strait. They were, however, unable to examine this part of the 
coast, and were driven southward, to within eighty miles of the 
mouth of the Columbia, where they anchored, between the con- j u iy 13, 
tinent and a small island. Here they met with a severe misfor- 
tune ; several of the crew of the schooner, who had been sent on 
shore in search of water, were surrounded by savages, and mur- 
dered immediately on landing ; and the vessel was herself ex- July 14. 



* Barringlorfs Miscellanies, which contains the translation of Maurelle's Journal, 
is a rare work; and the notices of this expedition, contained in the various memoirs, 
reports, and reviews, concerning the northwest coasts of America, are nearly all 
taken directly or at second-hand from the abstracts of the Journal by Fleurieu, in 
the Introduction to the Narrative of Marchand's Voyage around the World, and in 
the instructions to La Perouse. In these papers, Fleurieu has displayed much geo- 
graphical knowledge, yet he has committed numberless errors; and his contempt for 
the Spaniards has led him, whenever an opportunity presented itself, or could be 
contrived, to disparage their proceedings. His accounts and criticisms with regard 
to the expedition, described by Maurelle, are filled with inaccuracies, and with un- 
just or illiberal charges against the Spaniards. Of his mistakes, the least important 
is his assignment of the command to Ayala. 



[174] 



72 



1775. posed to danger from the attacks of the barbarians, who appeared 
in great numbers in canoes, and were with difficulty prevented 
from boarding her. In commemoration of this event, the island 
was called Isla de Dolores , (Isle of Grief.) Twelve years after- 
wards it received from the commander of the Austrian ship Impe- 
rial Eagle the name of Destruction Island, in consequence of the 
massacre of some of his men near the spot where the Spaniards 
had been cut off. 

July 15. After the occurrence of this disaster, as many of the crews of 
both vessels were moreover disabled by sickness, it was debated 
among the officers whether they should endeavor to proceed to 
the north, or return to Monterey. The commander, Heceta, was 
anxious to return; Bodega andMaurelle, however, notwithstand- 
ing the miserable condition of their little schooner and crew, in- 
sisted that they should persevere in their efforts to reach a higher 
latitude ; and their opinion having been unwillingly adopted by 
their superior, the voyage was resumed cm the 20th of July. On 

Aug. 4. the 4th of August the vessels were separated, and Heceta seized 
the opportunity of going to Monterey, while the schooner con- 
tinued her course towards the north. 

Aug. 14. Ten days after leaving the schooner, Heceta, while sailing 
along the coast of the continent towards the south, discovered a 
promontory, called by him Cape San Roque, and immediately 
south of it, under the parallel of 46 degrees 16 minutes, an open- 
ing in the land, which appeared to be a uarbor or the mouth of 
some river. # This opening, represented in Spanish charts printed 
before 1788 by the names of Entrada de Heceta, Entrada de Asun- 
cion, and Rw de San Roque, f was, without doubt, the mouth of 
the Columbia river, which was thus, for the first time, seen by 
the natives of a civilized country. 

Bodega and Maurelle, in their schooner, after parting with He- 

Aug. 18. ceta, proceeded towards the north as far as the latitude of 57 de- 
grees, before they again saw the land. Under that parallel they 
discovered a lofty mountain in the form of a beautiful cone, rising 
from the ocean, and occupying nearly the whole of what appeared 
to be a peninsula, projecting westward from the coast of an ex- 
tensive territory. In the angles between the supposed peninsula 
and the main land, were two bays, the northernmost of which 
was called Port Remedies, and that on the southern side Port 
Guadalupe, in honor of the two most celebrated places of pilgri- 
mage in Mexico, situated near the capital. The mountain over- 
hanging these bays received the name of San Jacinto, the saint 
on whose day it was discovered ; and the appellation of Cape En- 
gano (Deception) was bestowed on its western extremity. There 
is no difficulty in identifying these spots, from the descriptions 
given by Maurelle, although they are distinguished on our Eng- 
lish maps by other names ; they are on the western side of the 



* Journal of the Sutil and Mexican a, page 153; and Introduction to the same, 
page 94. 

t The 15th of August is the day of the Assumption ; and the 16th is St, Roque's (or 
St. Roch's) day, according to the Roman Catholic Calendar. 



73 



[174] 



largest island of King George the Third's group, a little north- 1775. 
ward of the place where the Russian navigator, Tschirikof, saw 
the land, and where his men were lost in 1741. Mount San Ja- 
cinto is now generally known as Mount Edgecumb, and Cape 
Engano as Cape Edgecumb ; Port Remedios is the Bay of Islands ; 
and Port Guadalupe is Norfolk Sound, called also by the Rus- 
sians the Gulf of Sitca. These two bays communicate with each 
other by a narrow passage behind the mountain, which is thus 
completely insulated. 

The Spaniards landed on the shore of Port Remedios, where Aug. 19. 
they took possession of the country for their Sovereign with re- 
ligious formalities, obtained some fresh water, and fought and 
traded with the natives, who appeared to have very distinct ideas 
of their own rights of property in the soil. The voyage was then 
continued towards the north, as far as the 58th degree. When 
the vessel had reached that latitude, nearly the whole of her crew Aug. 22. 
were incapable of duty, while the increasing violence of the winds 
rendered additional exertions absolutely necessary. Under such 
circumstances, the officers found that it would be imprudent to 
persevere in their endeavors to advance, and they accordingly 
turned towards the south, resolving, however, to explore the coasts 
minutely in that direction. 

Having taken this course, they searched along the shores as 
they went, for the passage or strait called the Rio de los Reyes, 
through which Admiral Fonte was said to have sailed into the 
Atlantic in 1640. " With this intent," writes Maurelle, " we 
searched every bay and recess of the coast, and sailed around 
every headland, lying to during the night, in order that we might 
not lose sight of this entrance ; after which exertions, we may 
safely pronounce that no such strait is to be found." This 
conclusion was certainly correct, yet it was as certainly not es- 
tablished by the discoveries of the Spaniards in 1775. On that 
occasion, the search was confined to the part of the coast north 
of the 55th parallel; whereas, according to the account of Fonte's 
voyage, the Rio de los Reyes entered the Pacific under the 53d. 
Moreover, had the observations been as minute as Maurelle rep- 
resents them, several passages would have been found leading 
towards the north and east, for the examination of any one of 
which more time would have been required than was devoted 
by the Spaniards to the whole search. 

In the course of this examination, a bay, affording excellent 
harbors, and well secured against the ocean by islands, was dis- 
covered in the latitude of 55. \ degrees, which, in compliment to 
the Viceroy of Mexico, was called Port Bucareli. It is situated Aug. 24. 
on the southwestern side of the largest of the Prince of Wales's 
Islands, and is one of the few places on the northwest coast of 
America which still retain on our maps the names originally 
bestowed by their Spanish discoverers. From Port Bucareli 
the schooner sailed slowly southward, along the shores of the 
great islands which border the American continent, and were 
long after supposed to form part of it ; and on the 19th of Sep- Sept. 19. 
fcember she reached the spot where her men had been murdered 



[174] 



74 



1775. two months before by the savages. Thence her voyage was con- 
Sept. 19. tinued, at some distance from the land, past the mouth of the 
Columbia ; a little south of which she again approached the con- 
tinent, and her officers endeavored to find the entrance of the 
great river said to have been seen by Martin de Aguilar, the pilot 
of one of Vizcaino's vessels, in 1603. The examinations with this 
view were commenced near a promontory, " resembling in form a 
round table," which* received the appellation of Cape Mezari, 
situated about thirty miles from the mouth of the Columbia ; and 
were prosecuted to the vicinity of Cape Mendocino, without suc- 
cess. The Spaniards then bore away for the bay of San Fran- 
cisco ; and, while looking for it, they entered a smaller bay, situ- 
ated farther north, to which Captain Bodega thought proper to 
give his own name. There they remained long enough to sur- 
vey the shores ; after which, they took their departure, and ar- 
Oct. 7. rived at Monterey on the 7th of October. 

The expeditions of the Spaniards in the north Pacific, during 
the years 1774 and 1775, have been made the subjects of severe 
reflections and sarcasms by French and English writers ; espe- 
cially by Fleurieu, in his Introduction to the Account of Mar- 
chand's Voyage around the World, and his Notes to the Instruc- 
tions given to La Perouse. It must be acknowledged that little 
exact information respecting the northwestern side of America 
was derived by means of these expeditions ; yet their results 
might have been important, by affording useful hints for the or- 
ganization and conduct of future voyages. The great questions 
of the extension of the continent towards the north and west were 
left unsettled, and the delineation of the coasts, founded upon 
the journals and tables of the navigators, was imperfect and 
inaccurate ; on the other hand, the eastern boundaries of the Pa- 
cific were approximately ascertained, as far north as the 58th 
degree of latitude; and several harbors were found, the posi- 
tions of which were determined with tolerable precision. Perez 
and Heceta, indeed, displayed a cautiousness of disposition ap- 
proaching to pusillanimity ; but Bodega and Maurelle certainly 
vindicated the character of their nation for courage and perseve- 
rance, by their struggles to advance under the most appalling dif- 
ficulties. 

1777. In order to complete the examination of the northwest coast of 
America, the Viceroy, Bucareli, obtained from his Government 
the use of two small corvettes, which he was anxious to despatch 
in 1777 ; the funds required for their equipment were, however, 
so slowly collected that they were not ready for sea until two 

1778. years afterwards. In the mean time, that coast had been visited 
by Captain James Cook, whose discoveries now claim our atten- 
tion. Before proceeding to consider them, it should be observed 
that the Spanish Government carefully concealed from the world 
every circumstance relating to its establishments and researches 



* This promontory is minutely described by Captain Clarke, who ascended it in 
January, 1806. See Lewis and'Clarke's Travels^ chapter 22, 



75 



[174] 



on the shores of the north Pacific ; and it was not until 1781 , when 1778. 
Mr. Barrington published his translation of Maurelle's Journal, 
that any thing was known in Europe upon those subjects, except 
the fact that a voyage had been made about 1774 from Mexico to 
that part of the ocean. This should be borne in mind, in order 
that a just estimate may be formed of the value of the labors of 
•Cook and his successors in command ; none of whoni were aware 
that any discoveries had been made by the Spaniards on the west 
coasts of North America, since those of Vizcaino in 1603. 

Mention has been frequently made in this memoir of the efforts 
of the British to discover a northern passage for ships between 
the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. These efforts were all di- 
rected towards the northwestern extremities of the Atlantic ; and, 
in prosecution of them, the two great seas called Hudson's Bay 
and Baffin's Bay were first explored, about the beginning of the 
sixteenth century, by the navigators whose names they bear. It 
was soon afterwards ascertained, satisfactorily, that the desired 
communication could only be realized through the medium of one 
or the other of these bays; and, in order to encourage perseve- 
rance in the search for it, the whole region surrounding Hud- 
son's Bay was granted by King Charles II., in 1669, to a society \em. 
of London merchants, entitled the Hudson's Bay Company, with 
the understanding that they should endeavor to effect the disco v- , 
ery. As an additional means of promoting the attainment of this 
end, the British Parliament, in 1745, offered a reward of twenty 1745. 
thousand pounds to those of " his Majesty's subjects who might 
find a passage for ships from Hudson's Bay to the Pacific." 

Without presenting a detailed account of the various expedi- 
tions* made in consequence of these engagements and induce- 
ments, suffice it to say that, in 1768, nothing had been learned 1768. 
Tespecting the portion of the American continent and the adjacent 
seas west of the immediate vicinities of Hudson's and Baffin's 
Bays. Hudson's Bay had been explored completely by the fur- 
traders, as far north as the 67th degree of latitude, beyond which, 
however, it was known to extend ; and although Baffin's Bay had 
been navigated to the 77th parallel, yet its shores had been but 
imperfectly examined. A channel for the passage of ships, be- 
tween one of these bays and the Pacific, might therefore exist; 
or the Pacific, or some large river emptying into it, might be 
found within a short distance of places on the Atlantic side, ac- 
cessible to vessels from Europe. The acquisition of Canada by 
Great Britain, in 1763, had rendered the determination of these 
-questions more interesting to that Power, as there was no longer 
any danger that such discoveries could be employed to its dis- 
advantage. 

In order to arrive at some definite conclusion on those points, 1760. 
as well as for other purposes connected with commercial interests, 
the directors of the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1769, commis- 



*_A concise, though clear, and doubtless just account of these expeditions, and of 
their results, may be found in the Introduction to the Journals of Captain Cook's 
Third and Last Voyage, written by Doctor Douglas, Bishop of Salisbury. 



[ 174 ] 



76 



1769. sioned Mr. Samuel Hearne, one of their agents, to explore the re- 
gion westward and northward of Hudson's Bay, so as to ascer- 
tain, if possible, how far the land extended without interruption 
in those directions, and, consequently, how far a ship would ne- 
cessarily have to pass in a voyage between the Atlantic and the 
Pacific. Agreeably to his instructions, Hearne set out # from 
Fort Prince of Wales, situated at the westernmost extremity of 

Nov. 6. Hudson's Bay, in the latter part of 1T69; between which period 
and July, 1772, he made three journeys on foot and in canoes, 
1769 through the designated territories, examining them in various 
lines of march, to the distance of nearly a thousand miles from 
the place of his departure. In these expeditions, he discovered 
the Great Slave Lake, and many other similar collections of fresh 
water, from the most western of which issued streams flowing to- 
wards the north. One of the largest of these streams, called Copper- 
mine River, was traced by him for a considerable distance, down to 
its termination, near the 68th degree of latitude, in a sea, which 
was certainly a division of the ocean, for the tides were observed 
in it, and the relics of whales in abundance were strewed on its 
shore. The traveller, moreover, assured himself that the portion 
of the continent which he had thus examined was not traversed 
by any channel or uninterrupted line of water forming a commu- 
nication between the seas on its eastern and its western sides ; 
and that, consequently, no passage could be effected from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, in that direction, without sailing north of 
the mouth of the Coppermine. 

The discoveries of Hearne were considered in Great Britain as 
highly important. The sea into which the Coppermine river 
emptied was supposed to be the Pacific ;f an d, as that ocean thus 
appeared to extend much farther towards the northeast than had 
been previously imagined , the hope of finding a direct communi- 
cation between its waters and those of Baffin's Bay were propor- 
tionally increased. 

Before relating what was done by the British Government in 
consequence of the information afforded by Hearne, it will be 
proper to notice another journey in the interior of North America, 
performed a short time previous, by Captain Jonathan Carver, of 
June, Connecticut. This gentleman set out from Boston in June, 1766; 
*^ 6, and, proceeding by way of Michiiimackinac, passed the two follow - 

October, ing years in exploring the region west of the Great Lakes, which 
1768. is watered by the upper Mississippi. Beyond this region he did 
not advance ; and the only reason for mentioning his expedition 
here is, that, in the narrative of his adventures, J allusions are sev- 



* The discoveries made by Hearne were communicated to the directors of the 
Hudson's Bay Company, and by them to the British Admiralty,- no account of them 
was, however, given to the world until the publication, in 1784, of the Journals of 
Cook's Last Voyage,, in the Introduction to which they are noticed. Hearne's Jour- 
nals and Maps were finally published in 1795, after his death. 

t Hearne estimated the latitude of the mouth of the Coppermine to be 72 degrees. 
We now know, from the observations of Franklin, that this river enters the Arctic 
Sea under the parallel of f>7 degrees 51 minutes. 

t Published at London in 1778. It attracted much attention at that time, and soon 
went through several editions. The work has been lately reprinted at New York. 



77 



[1 



eral times made to a great river flowing westwardly into the Pa- 1 
cific from the central part, of the continent. 

In the Introduction to his Narrative, Carver states that his 
objects were, "after gaining a knowledge of the manners, cus- 
toms, languages, soil, and natural productions of the different na- 
tions that inhabit the back of the Mississippi, to ascertain the 
breadth of the vast continent (North America) which extends 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, in its broadest part, be- 
tween the 43d and 46th degrees northern latitude. Had I been able 
to accomplish this, I intended to have proposed to the Govern- 
ment to establish a post in some of those parts about the Strait of 
Anian, which, having been discovered by Sir Francis Drake, of 
course belong to the English. This, I am convinced, would 
greatly facilitate the discovery of a northwest passage, or commu- 
nication between Hudson's Bay and the Pacific Ocean." This ex- 
tensive plan he was, however, unable to effect; having been ob- 
liged to turn back after having advanced as far as the St. Peter's 
River, and just as he was preparing to pursue his journey u by 
way of the Lakes Du Pluye, Dubois, and Ouinipique, m to the head 
of the Great River of the West, which falls into the Strait of An- 
ian, the termination of his intended, progress." In summing up 
the information which he presents to the public, he lays great 
stress upon his " account of the heads of the four great rivers that 
take their rise within a few leagues of each other, nearly about the 
centre of the great continent, viz : " the River Bourbon, (Red River,) 
which empties itself into Hudson 's Bay; the waters of the St. 
Lawrence ; the Mississippi ; and the River Oregon, or River of the 
West, that falls into the Pacific Ocean at the Strait of Anian." 

This account is certainly incorrect, so far as regards the head 
waters of any stream flowing into the Pacific; and as Carver, 
though he frequently mentions the Oregon, gives no information 
concerning it more particular than that it rises among the Shining 
Mountains, west of the source of St. Peter's River, and falls into 
the Pacific at the Strait of Anion, he cannot in justice be consid- 
ered as having thrown any light upon the geography of the 
western division of North America. As to the derivation or mean- 
ing of the word Oregon, he says nothing; and nothing satisfac- 
tory is, indeed, known about it. No such word is to be found in 
any vocabularies of Indian languages which have been examined 
in search of it; and there is little probability that it comes either 
from the Ore gano or the Ore j on of the Spaniards, or the O' 'Regan 
of the Irish. In fact, there is reason to suspect that Carver in- 
vented the name himself, and that he derived his idea of the river 
not from the Indians, but from the maps of the day, in most of 
which such a stream is laid down running from the vicinity of 
the Mississippi. It is certain that he copied the greater part of 
his accounts of the manners and customs of the Nadowessie In- 
dians, (now called the Sioux,) as well as their terms, from those 
given by Lahontan, nearly a century previous, respecting the sav- 



* Rainy Lake, Lake of the Woods, and Lake Winnipeg, 



[ 174] 



78 



1766 ages of Canada ; as may be seen by comparing the chapters on 
jj^g marriage, on burial, on hunting, and on many other subjects in 
the two works, although he merely mentions the French travel- 
ler once or twice incidentally, and then in a very disparaging 
manner. * 

Carver concludes his narrative by stating that a project had 
been formed in England, in 1774, by Richard Whitworth and 
other persons, of whom he himself was one, to cross the Ameri- 
can continent with a large party, by way of the Oregon and Mis- 
souri Rivers to the Pacific, and then to examine the coasts of 
that ocean towards the north, in search of some passage leading 
to the Atlantic ; but that the Revolution in America had caused 
the scheme to be abandoned. 
1774. The British Government, however, soon afterwards endeavored 
to obtain a solution of the interesting question as to the existence 
of a northern passage between the two oceans ; for which purpose 
it was arranged that ships should be simultaneously despatched 
to the north Pacific and to Baffin's Bay. Captain Cook, who 
about this time returned from his second circumnavigation of the 
earth, volunteered to conduct the expedition to the north Pacific; 
his offer was joyfully accepted, and he accordingly sailed from 
1776. Plymouth on the 12th of July, 1776, in his old ship the Resolu- 
u] Y 12. tion, accompanied by the Discovery, under the command of Cap- 
tain Charles Clerke. 

Captain Cook was instructed to proceed by way of the Cape of 
Good Hope and Otaheite, " to the coast of New Albion, endeavor- 
ing to fall in with it in the latitude of 45 degrees/' He was there 
" to put into the first convenient port to recruit his wood and 
water and procure refreshments, and then to sail northward along 
the coast to the latitude of 65 degrees, or farther if not obstructed 
by lands or ice, taking care not to lose any time in exploring riv- 
ers or inlets, or upon any other account," until he had reached that 
parallel. At the 65th degree he was to begin his examination of 
the coast, in search of " a water passage pointing towards Hud- 
son's or Baffin's Bays ;" if he should find such a passage, he was 
to endeavor to" make his way through it; should he, however, be- 
come convinced that no such communication existed, he was to 
visit the Russian establishments in that quarter, and to explore 
the seas north of them as far and as completely as he could. The 
direction not to commence the search for a passage to the Atlan- 
tic south of the 65th parallel, was founded on the proofs afforded 
by Hearne that the American continent extended uninterrupted 
beyond that latitude, and that, consequently, the stories of the 
voyages of Puca and Fonte from the Pacific to the Atlantic were 
entitled to no credit. 

The application of the name of New Albion to the western por- 
tion of North America showed that the British Government had 



* In the interesting Account of Major Long's Expedition through the country 
of the upper Mississippi in 1823, vol. i, chapter 7, will be found some observations 
calculated to show that no dependence is to be placed on Carver's statements respect- 
ing that part of America, particularly as regards the St. Peter's River, which it is 
probable that he never ascended. 



79 



[ 174] 



no intention to resign the rights supposed or pretended to have 177G. 
been acquired by Drake's visit to that region. In order to revive 
and fortify these claims, Cook was instructed, "with the consent 
of the natives, to take possession, in the name of the King of Great 
Britain, of convenient situations in such countries as he might 
discover, that had not been already discovered or visited by any 
other European Power, and to distribute among the inhabitants 
such things as will remain as traces of his having been there ; 
but if he should find those countries uninhabited, he was to take 
possession of them for his Sovereign, by setting up proper marks 
and inscriptions as first discoverers and possessors." He was 
" strictly enjoined not to touch upon any part of the Spanish 
dominions on the western continent of America, unless driven 
thither by some unavoidable accident; in which case, he was to 
stay no longer than should be absolutely necessary, and to be care- 
ful to give no umbrage or offence to any of the inhabitants or 
subjects of his Catholic Majesty." With reference to the Rus- 
sians he was directed, "if in his farther progress northward he 
should find any subjects of any European Prince or State upon 
any part of the coast, not to disturb them or give them any just 
cause of offence, but, on the contrary, to treat them with civility 
and friendship." 

The preceding extracts from the instructions given to Cook in 
1776 will be sufficient to explain the objects of his voyage to the 
north Pacific, and the views of the British Government with re- 
gard to the part of America bordering upon that division of the 
ocean. It should be observed, in addition, that those views were 
in every respect conformable with justice, with the existing trea- 
ties between Great Britain and other Powers, and with the princi- 
ples of national law, then generally admitted in civilized coun- 
tries. 

When Cook sailed from England on this his last voyage, he July 12. 
expected to reach the north Pacific early in the summer of 1777; 
he was, however, detained by his researches in other parts of the 
ocean during the whole of that year, and did not arrive upon the 
northwest coast of America until the 7th of March, 1778, when 1778. 
he made the land about a hundred miles north of Cape Mendo- Mar - ~ 
cino. For several days afterwards he was prevented by violent 
storms from advancing as he wished towards the north, and 
was driven along the coast to some distance in the contrary di- 
rection. The wind then becoming favorable, he took the desired Mar. 13. 
course, and on the 22d of the month his ships were opposite a Mar. 22. 
projecting point of the continent, situated a little beyond the 48th 
parallel, to which he gave the name of Cape Flattery in token of 
his improved prospects. In this part of his voyage he recognised 
the Cape Blanco of Aguilar, near the 43d parallel, but he thought 
proper to bestow on it the name of Cape Gregory. The mouth of 
the Columbia was passed by him, without its being noticed, du- 
ring a stormy night. 

The coast immediately south of Cape Flattery was carefully 
examined in search of the strait through which Juan de Fuca 
was said to have sailed from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1592. 
In the account of that voyage, the entrance of the strait is placed 



[ 174] 



80 



1778. between the 47th and 48th degrees of latitude; and the land be- 
ing found by Cook to extend uninterruptedly across that space, 
he did not hesitate to pronounce that no such passage existed. 
This assertion has been subsequently confirmed ; had the Eng- 
lish navigator, however, traced the outline of the coast on the 
other side of Cape Flattery, he would there have discovered an 
arm of the ocean, apparently penetrating the continent towards 
the east, through which he might have proceeded with his ships 
for many days ere he could have been assured that the story of the 
Greek pilot's voyage was not true in all its most essential partic- 
ulars. 

This arm of the sea was passed unnoticed by Cook, who con- 
tinued his voyage from Cape Flattery, northward across its en- 
trance, and along the shore of what he supposed to be the con- 
tinent, as far as the latitude of 49J degrees. Under that parallel 
he found a spacious and secure bay offering every facility for the 
repair of his vessels and the refreshment of his men, in which he 
Mar. 29. cast anchor on the 29th of March, bestowing upon it, at the same 
time, the name of King George's Sound. This name he shortly 
after changed to that of Nootka Sound, under the impression 
(which appears to have been incorrect) that Nootka m was the term 
employed to distinguish the bay, by the natives of the surround- 
ing territory. 

April. The English remained at Nootka Sound four weeks, engaged 
in preparations for the difficulties which they expected to encoun- 
ter. During this period they communicated freely with the na- 
tives of the country, who, though universally represented as the 
most thievish, treacherous, and ferocious of the human race, were 
upon this occasion rendered useful, and even obliging, by the 
kind and conciliatory conduct of the strangers. A regular inter- 
change of commodities was also established between the parties, 
the seamen giving their old clothes, buttons, knives, and other 
trifles, in return for the skins of sea-otters and seals, which were 
found in abundance on those coasts. 

Cook has recorded in his Journal many curious particulars il- 
lustrative of the character and habits of these savages, and he 
has also noticed some circumstances which appeared to show 
that they had held intercourse with Europeans before his arrival 
among them. Thus he remarks that they manifested no surprise 
at the sight of his ships, and were not startled by the reports of 
his guns ; they had tools and weapons of iron, and ornaments of 
brass, which latter, at least, could not hai^e been made by per- 
sons unacquainted with the arts ; and one of their chiefs had 
hanging around his neck two silver table-spoons of Spanish man- 
ufacture. Yet the navigator was convinced, from inquiries, that 
no ships besides those under his command had been seen at 
Nootka, and that none of the inhabitants had ever communicated 
directly with the Spaniards or any other civilized people. Their 
indifference with regard to his ships he attributed to their " natu- 



* The name of Uquot, or Yucuatl, applied by the natives of this region to a part of 
the sound called Friendly Cove, is the only word in their language which resembles 
Nootka. 



81 



[ 174 J 



ral indolence of temper and want of curiosity and he concluded 1778. 
that they obtained their iron and other metals from the European 
colonies in America, through the agency, "perhaps, of several in- 
termediate nations." 

Under these circumstances, Cook finally considered himself 
justified in claiming the merit of the first discovery of Nootka 
Sound, and it has since been almost universally conceded to him. 
The Spanish Government and writers, however, insist that this 
place is no other than the Port San Lorenzo, entered and so 
named by Juan Perez, during his voyage along this coast, four 
years previous to the arrival of the English in the north Pacific. 
In the account of that voyage, at page 70, we have shown upon 
what evidence this assertion is founded ; and it cannot be denied 
that many of the facts observed by Cook, at Nootka, tend to con- 
firm the probability of its correctness. To attempt to determine 
the question satisfactorily in favor of the Spanish navigator, would 
be at the present day an unprofitable employment. 

Cook sailed from Nootka Sound on the 26th of April, with the April 26. 
intention of proceeding as speedily as possible to the 65th degree 
of latitude, where he was to begin the examination of the Amer- 
ican coasts, in search of a passage to the Atlantic. The land 
next, seen by him was the beautiful peak which he called Mount May 2. 
Edgecumb, but which had received from Bodega and Maurelle 
in 1775 the name of Mount San Jacinto ; and two days afterwards May 4. 
he beheld rising from the shore two stupendous piles of rocks 
and snow, on the southernmost of which the appellation of Mount 
Fairweather was bestowed, while the other, lying nearly under 
the 60th parallel, was recognised as the Mount Saint Elias de- 
scribed in the accounts of Beering's last voyage. From the foot 
of Mount Saint Elias the coast was observed to turn to the west, 
instead of continuing in a northward direction, as it was repre- 
sented in the latest charts of the Russians. Cook thereupon re- 
solved to commence his survey at that point, hoping that he 
should soon find some strait or arm of the ocean, through which 
his ships might pass around the northwestern extremity of the 
continent into the sea discovered by Hearne. 

With this view the English advanced slowly along the shore 
from Mount Saint Elias to a considerable distance westward, and 
thence southward as far as the 55th degree of latitude ; minutely June, 
exploring in their way the two great gulfs called Prince Wil- 
liam f s Sound and Cook's River, and every other opening through 
which they supposed it possible to effect a passage. Their ex- 
pectations, however, were in each instance disappointed ; and the 
land was found extending continuously on the right of the whole 
line thus surveyed by them, over a vast space, which in the charts 
and accounts of the Russians, was represented as occupied by the 
ocean. That this land was a part of the American continent 
Cook entertained no doubt, although the fact had not then been 
established ; and he therefore saw with regret that the probability 
of his being able to accomplish the grand object of his voyage 
was materially lessened, if not entirely destroyed. 

While this survey was going on, the ships were frequently vis- 
ited by the natives of the adjacent territories, none of whom ap- 



[ 174] 



82 



1778. peared to have held any previous intercourse with civilized per- 
June 19. sons ; and it was not until they had passed the southwestern 

extremity of the land, near the 55th parallel of latitude, that 
traces of the Russians were perceived. From this point they 
June 27. proceeded towards the west, and at length, on the 27th of June, 
they reached an island which proved to be Unalashka one of the 
largest of the Fox group, well known as a place of resort for the 
fur-traders from Asia. None but savages were found upon it at 
that time ; yet, as its position with reference to the other islands 
and to Kamschatka was supposed to be expressed with some ap- 
proach to accuracy on the charts published at St. Petersburg, its 
discovery was considered important for the regulation of future 
movements. 

July 2. From Unalashka Cook proceeded northward through the part 
of the Pacific usually distinguished as the Sea of Kamschatka , into 
the Arctic Ocean, examining the American coast in search of a 

Au^. 9. passage around the continent towards the east. On the 9th of 
August, he reached a point situated near the 66th parallel of lati- 
tude, and called by him Cape Prince of Wales, which has been 
ascertained to be the western extremity of America; and thence, 
Aug. 10. crossing a channel of only fifty-one miles in breadth, he arrived at 
the opposite extremity of Asia, since known as East Cape. Upon 
the channel which there separates the two great continents he 
generously bestowed the name of Beering's Strait, in honor of 
the navigator who had first, though unknowingly, passed through 
it fifty years before. 

Beyond Beering's Strait the American coast was found extend- 
ing upon the Arctic Sea towards the east, and was traced in that 
direction to Icy Cape, a point situated in the latitude of 70 J- de- 
grees, where the progress of the ships was arrested by the ice. 
In like manner the Asiatic shore was examined as far westward 
as it was possible to proceed ; and the warm season having by 
this time passed away, Cook judged it prudent to return to the 
south, deferring the prosecution of his researches until the ensu- 
ing summer. 

Oct. 2. On the 2d of October the ships again arrived at Unalashka, 
where fortunately some Russian traders were found. The chief 
of these men, Gerassim Ismyloff, was an old and experienced 
seaman, who had accompanied Benyowsky in his adventurous 
voyage to China in 1771, and had been for many years engaged 
in the trade between Kamschatka and the islands. He readily 
exhibited to Cook all the charts in his possession, and commu- 
nicated what he knew respecting the geography of that part of 
the world. The information thus received from him, however, 
was only so far valuable to the English navigator, as it proved 
the inaccuracy of the ideas of the Russians with regard to the 
American continent. 
Oct. 26. Leaving Unalashka after some days, the English ships contin- 
Nov. 26. ued on their course towards the south, and on the 26th of No- 
vember reached Owyhee, one of the Sandwich Islands. There 

1779. they remained during the winter, and there, on the 16th of Feb- 
Feb. 16. ruary, 1779, the gallant and generous Cook was murdered by the 

natives. 



83 



[ 174 J 



Captain Charles Clerke, upon whom the command of the ex- 1779. 
pedition devolved in consequence of this melancholy event, en- 
deavored in the following summer to effect a passage to the At- 
lantic through the Arctic Sea. With this view he sailed from Mar. 13. 
Owyhee to Petro- Paulowsk* the principal port of Kamschatka, 
in the Bay of Avatscha, and thence through Beering's Strait; be- May I. 
yond which, however, his ships were prevented by ice from ad- 
vancing as far in any direction as they had gone in the previous 
year. His health declining, he was obliged to return to the south 
before the end of the warm season, and on the 22d of August he Aug. 22. 
died near Petro -Paulo wsk. 

Captain John Gore, a native of New England, next assumed 
the direction of the enterprise ; and the ships being considered by 
the officers unfit, from the bad condition of their rigging, to en- 
counter the storms of another year's voyage in this part of the 
ocean, it was determined that they should direct their course 
homeward. Accordingly, in October they sailed from Petro-Paul- Oct. 
owsk, where they had been treated with the utmost hospitality 
by the Russian authorities ; and in December following they an- Pec. 18. 
chored at the mouth of the River Tygris in China, near the city 
of Canton. 

With the stay of the ships at Canton are connected circum- 
stances which gave additional importance to the discoveries made 
in the expedition. 

During their voyage along the northwest coasts of America, 
the officers and seamen had obtained from the natives of various 
places which they visited a quantity of the finest furs, in ex- 
change for knives, buttons, and other trifles. These furs were 
collected without any reference to their value as merchandise, 
and were used on board as clothes or bedding ; in consequence of 
which the greater portion of them had been entirely spoiled, and 
the remainder were much injured before the ships reached Petro- 
Paulowsk. At that place a few of the skins were purchased by 
the Russian traders, who were anxious to obtain the whole on 
the same terms ; but the officers, having in the mean time ac- 
quired information respecting the value of furs in China, pre- 
vailed upon the seamen to retain those which they had still on 
hand, until their arrival at Canton, where they were assured that 
a better market would be found. 

In this expectation they were not disappointed. The furs car- 
ried by them to China were the first which entered that empire 
by sea, all those previously used in the country having been 
brought by land though the northern frontiers. The supplies 
thus received had never been equal to the demands ; no sooner, 
therefore, was it reported in Canton that two cargoes of these 
highly prized objects of comfort and luxury had arrived in the 
Tygris, than the ships which contained them were surrounded by 
persons all eager to buy for their own use or upon speculation. 
The Chinese, according to custom, began by proposing prices far 



* Called also Petro- Paulski, and the Harbor of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, The 
Russians write it Petropawlowskaia. 



[ 174 ] S4 

1779. below those which were then current ; but the English refusing 
to accede to such terms, they gradually increased the amount of 
their offers, and in the end the whole stock of furs was purchased 
by them for money and goods, the value of which was not less 
than ten thousand dollars. 

The business for which the English stopped at Canton having 
been despatched, they sailed from that place in January, 1780, 
and, passing around the Cape of Good Hope, arrived at the mouth 
of the Thames on the 4th of October following. 

The results of Cook's researches in the north Pacific were cer- 
tainly far more important than those obtained by any or all of the 
navigators who had previously explored that part of the sea. The 
positions of a number of points on the western side of America 
were for the first time accurately determined, and means were 
thus afforded for ascertaining approximately the extent of the 
continent in that direction. The existence of a northern channel 
of communication between the two oceans, passable by ships, 
seemed to be entirely disproved ; but, in recompense, a vast field 
for the exercise of industry was opened to the world, by the de- 
monstration of the advantages which were to be derived from the 
collection of furs on the northern shores of the Pacific, and the 
sale of them in China. 

With regard to the novelty of Cook's discoveries on the north- 
west side of America, it appears, on comparing his course with 
those taken by the Spaniards four years previously, that until he 
had passed the 5Sth parallel of latitude he saw no land, (with the 
exception possibly, though not probably, of Nootka Sound,) which 
had not been already seen by Perez, Bodega, or Heceta ; it must 
be repeated, however, that he had no knowledge of the discov- 
eries effected by either of those navigators. After passing the 5Sth 
degree, he was, as he frequently acknowledges, aided, and in a 
measure guided, by the information gleaned from the accounts of 
the expeditions of Beering and other Russians who had explored 
that part of the Pacific before him. This is said without any de- 
sire to detract from the merits of the gallant English commander, 
whose skill and perseverance were as extraordinary as his hon- 
esty and magnanimity ; but merely to show with what degree of 
justice his Government could advance claims to the exclusive 
possession of any part of Northwest America on the strength of 
his discoveries. 

While the British ships under Gierke and Gore were, after the 
death of Cook, on their second tour through the northernmost 
parts of the Pacific, the Spaniards were engaged in another at- 
tempt to extend their knowledge of the west coasts of America. 
For this purpose two vessels, called the Princesa and the Favor- 
Feb. U. ita, sailed from San Bias on the 11th of February, 1779, under 
the command, respectively, of Lieutenants Ignacio Arteaga and 
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra. The latter was the same 
officer who had in 1775 explored the Pacific to the 58th degree 
of latitude, as before related ; and he was again accompanied by 
Antonio Maurelle as ensign, from whose journal nearly all the 
information respecting the expedition in question has been de- 
rived. 



85 



[ 174] 



Of this voyage a very short account* will be sufficient. From 1779. 
San Bias the Spaniards sailed directly for Port Bucareli, the bay Feb. 11. 
which had been discovered by Bodega and Maurelle near the May 4. 
56th degree of latitude. This bay, as well as the shores in its vi- 
cinity, they surveyed with care ; after quitting it, the point which July 1. 
they next saw was Mount Saint Elias, whence they proceeded July 9. 
along the coast towards the west, frequently landing and trading 
with the natives. In the beginning of August they entered a Aug. 1. 
large gulf containing many islands, and surrounded by high 
mountains, which, from the descriptions given by Maurelle, must 
have been the same called by Cook Prince William's Sound. 
Here their researches terminated, for what reason we do not learn. 
La Perouse says that Arteaga supposed himself to have then 
reached the coast of Kamschatka, and that he was fearful to pro- 
ceed farther, lest he should be attacked and overpowered by the 
Russians. The ships departed from the great gulf on the 7th of Au- Aug. 7. 
gust, and on the 21st of November following they arrived at San Not. 21. 
Bias, " where," says Fleurieu, with some justice, " they might have 
remained without our knowledge in geography having sustained 
any loss by their inaction." The voyage, in fact, produced little 
benefit in any way ; it was the last made by Spaniards to the 
northwest coast of America before 1788. 



* The greater part of Maurelle's journal of this voyage may be found in the first 
volume of the Narrative of La Perouse's Voyage. La Perouse obtained it from 
Maurelle himself at Manilla in 1787, and has made some observations respecting 
the conduct of the Spaniards as therein related, which, though possibly just, are by 
no means generous. Fleurieu, the editor of La Perouse's Journal, did not omit the 
opportunity of casting ridicule upon the Spaniards, whose efforts during this voy- 
age were, in truth, not calculated to redeem their character for perseverance. 



[ 174] 



86 



CHAPTER Y. 

Voyages and discoveries k> the north Pacific, between 1779 and 1790— Commence- 
ment of the direct trade in furs from the northwest coasts of America to Can- 
ton — Voyage of La Perouse — First voyages of citizens of the United States to the 
northwest coasts — Discovery of the Strait of Fuca— Attempt made by John Led- 
yard to cross the northern part of the American continent. 

1776 Whilst Cook was engaged in his last expedition, Great Brit- 
to ain became involved in wars with the United States of America, 

1785. p rance? and Spain ; and as there was no prospect of a speedy 
termination of the contests at the time when the ships sent out un- 
der that commander returned to Europe, the British Government 
considered it prudent to withhold from the world all information 
respecting their voyage. The regular journals of the ships, togeth- 
er with the private notes and memoranda of the officers and men 
which could be collected, were in consequence placed under the 
charge of the Board of Admiralty, and thus remained concealed 
until peace had been restored. Notwithstanding this care, how- 
ever, many of the occurrences of the expedition became known, 
the importance or the novelty of which was such as to raise to 
the highest degree the curiosity of the public, not only in Eng- 
land, but in all other civilized countries. 

1795 o The wars having been at length concluded, the journals of the 
expedition were published at London in the winter of 1784-'5, 
under the care of a learned ecclesiastic, in three quarto volumes, 
accompanied by charts, tables, and all other illustrative appli- 
ances ; and it is scarcely necessary to add, that the anticipations 
which had been formed with regard to the importance of their 
contents were fully realized. 

The statements contained in this work respecting the great 
abundance of animals yielding fine furs in the vicinity of the 
north Pacific, and the high prices paid for their skins in China, 
did not fail immediately to arrest the attention of enterprising 
men; and preparations were commenced in various parts of Eu- 
rope, in the East Indies, and in the United States of America, to 
profit by the information. At that period the trade in those arti- 
cles was conducted almost wholly by the Russians and the Brit- 
ish, between which nations, however, there was no competition 
in this particular. The Russians procured their furs chiefly in the 
northern parts of their own empire, and exported to China by land 
all which were not required for their own use. The British fur 
market was supplied entirely from Hudson's Bay and Canada ; 
and a great portion of the skins there collected were sent to Rus- 
sia, whence many of them found their way to China, though 
none had ever been shipped directly for the latter country. That 
the furs of Canada and Hudson's Bay could be sold advanta- 



87 [174] 

geously at Canton, appeared to be certain, even allowing for a 1785. 
considerable diminution of prices at that place in consequence of 
the increase in the supply ; and it was supposed that still larger 
profits might be secured by means of a direct intercourse between 
China and the northern coasts of the Pacific, where the finest furs 
were to be obtained in greater quantities and more easily than 
in any other part of the world. There could be no doubt that 
this diminution of prices at Canton would take place immediately 
after the establishment of the trade, and it was probable that the 
expenses and difficulties of procuring the furs would also be aug- 
mented ; therefore it was material that those who wished to reap 
the fullest harvests upon this new field, should commence their 
labors as speedily as possible. 

The first expedition made to the northwest coasts of America 
from the south, for the purpose of collecting furs, was conducted 
by James Hanna, an Englishman, who sailed in a small brig from 
Canton in April, 1785, and arrived at Nootka Sound in August 
following. The natives of the surrounding country were in the 
beginning entirely opposed to all intercourse with the strangers, 
whom they endeavored to destroy ; after a few combats, however, 
a trade was established between the parties, and the brig returned 
to Canton before the close of the year, with a cargo of the most 
valuable furs in place of the old iron and coarse manufactures 
which she had carried out in the spring. 

In the same year an association of merchants, called the King 
George's Sound Company ^ was formed in London for the prose- 
cution of this trade, by means of vessels sent directly from Eng- 
land to the northwest coasts, for which an exclusive license was 
granted to them by the South Sea Company ; the furs there col- 
lected were to be carried for sale to Canton, and from that place, 
in virtue of a special permission conceded by the East India Com- 
pany, cargoes of tea were to be brought back to London. This 
association immediately despatched to the north Pacific two ships, 
the Q,ueen Charlotte, commanded by Captain Dixon, and the King 
George, by Captain Portlock, who arrived together in Cook's Riv- 
er in July, 1786. In the course of this and the two following 1786 
years vessels were also sent to be employed in the fur trade of 
the Pacific — from Bombay and Calcutta by the East India Com- 
pany ; from Macao and Canton by various individuals, English 
and Portuguese ; and from Ostend, by the Austrian East India 
Company, or rather under its flag. 

All these vessels appeared to have been owned and equipped 
wholly or principally by British subjects. The French made no 
commercial expeditions for the same purpose before 1790 ; their 
great navigator, La Perouse, however, on departing for the last 
time from his country, in August, 1785, was instructed u particu- 
larly to explore those parts of the northwest coast of America 
which had not been examined by Captain Cook, and of which 
the Russian accounts gave no idea," with the view of obtaining in- 
formation relative to the fur trade, as well as of learning "whether 
in those unknown parts some river or internal sea may not be 
found communicating with Hudson's or Baffin's Bay." The 



to 
17* 



[174] 



88 



1786. multiplicity of the affairs in every department of knowledge, to 
which La Perouse was required to attend during this voyage ? 
June ?A prevented him from devoting more than three months to the ob- 
Q e t° °4 j ects aDove specified ; and of that time he passed one-third at an- 
K.ept. „ . c ^ Qr £ n a Jjgy nam ed by him Port des Fra?ipais, near Mount 
Saint Elias, where he first made the land on the northwest coast 
of America. From the Port des Francais he sailed along the 
western shores of the continent and of the great islands in its vi- 
cinity, which were then supposed to be parts of the main land, 
Sept. 16. as far Monterey; and thence, after a few days spent in making 
Sept. 24. observations and inquiries, he departed for the East Indies. 

The remarks and opinions of the gallant and accomplished 
French navigator, upon many subjects relative to the northwest 
coast, display great sagacity, and have been since generally con- 
firmed ; he, however, made no important discoveries, and the 
whole value of the information acquired by him was lost to the 
world in consequence of the delay in publishing it. The jour- 
nals of his expedition did not appear in print until 1797, at which 
period the Pacific coasts of North America were almost as well 
known as those of its Atlantic side. 

1786. The Spanish Government endeavored also to secure for itself 
a portion of the advantages to be derived from the fur trade. 
Agreeably to its usual policy in such cases, an agent was sent 
from Mexico to the western side of California, where he was 
charged to collect all the furs procurable at the different settle- 
ments, and thence to carry them for sale to Canton. The adven- 
ture, however, proved unprofitable. A few skins only, and those 
of inferior quality, could be collected in California; and ere the 
agent arrived with them in Canton, which was in the spring of 

1787. 1787, the price of furs had been so much lowered that scarcely 
enough could be obtained from the sale of his stock to cover the 
expenses of its transportation. The Canton market was, indeed, 
already glutted with furs, which were, according to La Perouse, 
actually cheaper there in that year than in Kamschatka. 

The Russians were in the mean time extending their inter- 
course with the American coasts and their establishments upon 
them ; even before the publication of Cook's journals, they had 
begun to avail themselves of the information respecting his dis- 
coveries, which had been obtained while the English ships were 
at Unalashka and Petro-Paulowsk, and an association had been 
formed among the principal fur-merchants of Eastern Russia for 
1783 the more effectual conduct of their affairs. In August, 1783, 
three vessels which had been equipped by this association for a 
long voyage sailed for America from Ochotsk, under the direction 
of Gregory Shellikof, one of the chiefs of the company. Their 
expedition lasted four years, during which period the shores of 
the continent and islands between the southern extremity of Ali- 
aska and Prince William's Sound were explored, and several col- 
onies and factories were established, particularly on the large 
Island of Kuktak, or Kodiak, situated near the entrance of Cook's 
Inlet. This Shellikof was a man of great intrepidity and perse- 
verance, well acquainted with the business in which he was en- 



89 



[ 174 ] 



gaged, and never troubled by any scruples with regard to the hu- 178-7. 
inanity of measures after their expediency had been demonstrated. 
He is said to have exhibited the most barbarous disposition in 
his treatment of the natives on the American coasts, of whom he 
often put to death whole tribes upon the slightest prospect of ad- 
vantage.* 

In 1788 two other vessels were sent out by this association, 1788, 
under Gerassim Ismyloff, one of the traders whom Cook had 
found at Unalashka, and Demitri BetscharefT. They proceeded 
as far eastward as Mount San Jacinto, or Mount Edgecumb, tra- 
ding with the natives and taking possession of the country in the 
name of the Empress of Russia. 

The Russian Government became also desirous to have a sci- 
entific expedition made through these seas, for which purpose 
the Empress engaged Captain Joseph Billings, one of Cook's 
lieutenants, and some other English and Germans, as officers, as- 
tronomers, and naturalists. These persons were sent, in 1786 to 
Ochotsk, where two vessels were being built for their voyage. 
The preparations were, however, conducted so slowly, that Bil- 
lings did not get to sea until May, 1790, he and his party having 
been in the interval engaged in exploring the northern coasts of 
Siberia. An account of their expedition will be presented here- 
after. 

The citizens of the United States of America appeared in the 1788 
north Pacific to claim a share of the advantages of the fur trade, }° 
within a short period after its commencement in that quarter of 1/9 ' 
the ocean. All the accounts hitherto published of their early expe- 
ditions for this purpose are defective, and in general erroneous ; 
very little information concerning them is, indeed, to be obtained 
at the present day, and that little must be in part collected from 
the journals of British and Spanish navigators, upon whose state- 
ments we cannot always rely. From the authorities here indica- 
ted, as well as from some others more worthy of credit,f have 
been compiled the slender notices of American voyages and dis- 
coveries in the Pacific, between 1786 and 1793, contained in this 
and the two next succeeding chapters. 

The first voyages from the United States to the northwest 178P. 
coasts of America were made by the ship Columbia, of 220 tons, 
and the sloop Washington, or Lady Washington, of 90 tons, under 
the command, respectively, of John Kendrick and Robert Gray. 
They were fitted out by an association of merchants at Boston, 



* Sailer's Account of the Russian Expedition, under Billings. 

t The principal amhorities to which reference will be made in these notices are: 
the statement of Charles Buifineh, one of the owners of the Columbia and Washing- 
ton, appended to the report of the Committee of Foreign Relations to the House of 
Representatives of the United States on ihe 4th of January, 1839, and published in 
many newspapers both before and since: the Journal of the Voyages of Captain 
John Meares in the North Pacific in 1788, and his memorial and documents ad- 
dressed to the British Parliament in the following year; the Journal of the Voyage 
of Captain George Vancouver in the Pacific from 1791 to 1795; the Journal of the 
Voyage of the Sutil and Mexicana; and the manuscript Journnl of the Voyage of 
the Brig Hope of Boston, commanded by Joseph In^raham, from 1790 to 1793, 
which is preserved in the library of the Department of State at Washington. 



[174] 



90 



1787. and, having been furnished with sea-letters from the Federal Gov- 
ernment, and passports from the authorities of the State of Massa- 
chusetts, they sailed together from Boston on the 30th of Sep- 

Sept. 30. tember, 1787.* 

The two vessels proceeded first to the Cape Verd Islands, 
where they obtained refreshments, and thence to the Falkland 
Islands, among which they passed a fortnight. They then doubled 
Cape Horn, and were immediately afterwards separated during a 
violent gale. The Washington, continuing her course northward, 

1788. arrived at Nootka on the 17th of September, 1788. The Colum- 
Sept. 17. rece ived some damage in the storm, in consequence of which 
May 24. she on the 24th of May put into the principal harbor of the Island 

of Juan Fernandez, where she was treated with hospitality by 
the Spanish commandant, Don Bias Gonzales. f The damage 
having been repaired, Captain Kendrick set sail again on the 
May 28. 28th, and joined the Washington before the end of September at 
ep " Nootka Sound, where both vessels spent the winter. 

Nootka was, indeed, the place to which vessels sailing for the 
northwest coasts of America from the south generally directed 
their course at that time, and from which they took their depar- 
ture on returning ; as it appeared to offer greater facilities for ob- 
taining water and provisions, as well as for repairs, than any oth- 
er harbor in that part of the ocean. The sound is easily entered 
and quitted with the prevailing winds, and it affords secure and 
convenient anchorage for ships of any size, particularly in a small 
bay on the northwest side, called by the natives Uquot or Uquatl, 
and by the English Friendly Cove. Although it lies between 
the 49th and 50th parallels, and thus corresponds in latitude with 
the mouth of the St. Lawrence, its climate appears from all ac- 
counts to be much milder, and more nearly resembling that of 
Halifax in Nova Scotia, which is situated five degrees farther 
southward. The grains, fruits, and vegetables, as well as the do- 
mestic fowls and quadrupeds of England and the northern States 
of the American Union, thrive there and produce plentifully ; the 
surrounding country is covered with the finest timber, and the 
waters abound in fish, and in the animals yielding the most pre- 
cious furs. 

The aborigines of this part of North America are certainly 
among the most savage and treacherous of the whole human 
family ; they are of a race entirely distinct from any of those 
which were found occupying the middle and eastern sections of 
the continent, and probably belong to that of the Tschutzky y 



* The owners of these vessels were Joseph Barrel], Samuel Brown, Charles Bul- 
finch, John Darby, Crowel Hatch, and John M Pintard ; one of whom, C. Bulfinch, 
is still (1840) living at Boston. Each vessel took out, for distribution among the na- 
tives of the places which she might visit, a number of coins, struck/or the purpose, 
bearing on one side a ship and a. sloop under sail, with the words " Columbia and 
Washington commanded by John Kendrick" and on the reverse, 11 Filled out at Bos- 
ton, North 'America, for the Pacific Ocean by" — encircling the names of the propri- 
etors. A fac simile of this medal will be found on the map. 

t This officer was soon after deprived of his command and arrested, by his superi- 
or, the captain general of Chili, for thus disobeying the law of the Indies prohibiting 
the entrance of foreigners under any pretext into the American dominions of Spain* 



91 



[ 174] 



inhabiting the northernmost regions of Asia. Tiiese barbarians 1785 
evinced, at first, the utmost hostility to the fur-traders ; they, ^ Q 
however, soon acquired a taste for blankets, knives, and other 
foreign articles, to gratify which they became willing not only to 
tolerate the presence of the strangers, but also to hunt, fish, cut 
wood, and labor for them in various other ways. 

The king, or principal chief, of the tribes residing in the vicin- 
ity of Nootka Sound at that period, was named Maquinna or Ma- 
quilla ; his relation Wiccannish ruled over the districts next ad- 
joining on the southeast, and bordering upon the Bays of Clyo- 
quot or Port Cox, and Nittinat or Berkley Sound. They were 
both courageous, artful, and ferocious savages, as was amply de- 
monstrated by their many acts of blood and perfidy against each 
other, and against the foreigners who frequented their territories. 

From Nootka, the shores of the continent, and those of the 
western sides of the outermost great islands in its vicinity, were 
explored by the English and American fur -traders northward as 
far as Cook's River, and southward nearly to Cape Mendocino. 
The vessels thus employed were in general commanded by ex- 
perienced and intelligent mariners, well acquainted with the sci- 
ence of navigation, and provided with the best instruments for 
ascertaining geographical positions ; and it being material for each, 
in order to obtain a cargo of furs speedily and cheaply, to find as 
many places as possible which had not been previously visited 
by the others, a great deal of tolerably precise information relative 
to these coasts was collected during the five years immediately 
following the commencement of the trade. This information was, 
indeed, in most cases, kept secret by those who had acquired it; 
interchanges of charts and notes, however, occasionally took 
place among them, and at length, in the course of 1TS9 and 1790, 
complete narratives of three commercial expeditions to the north 
Pacific were published in London by those who had respectively 
commanded in them.* These works are all tedious, on account, 
of the minuteness of the details of personal and trifling matters, 
and the statements are often erroneous or false ; they, however, 
afford the means of tracing with sufficient exactness the progress 
of discovery, and what may be called the history of the north- 
western portion of America, within the abovementioned period. 

It will be proper here to give a sketch of some of the most re- 
markable discoveries effected by the British and American fur- 
traders between 1785 and 1790. 

In the summer of 1787 Captain Berkely,in the ship Imperial 1787. 
Eagle, from Ostend, while examining the coast southeast from 
Nootka, entered a broad arm of the sea,f between the 48th and 
49th degrees of latitude, which appeared to penetrate the Amer- 
ican continent in an easterly direction ; and as it corresponded 
almost exactly with the mouth of the passage through which the 



* Portlock, Dixon, and Meares-. The narrative of the last mentioned person will 
be frequently referred to in the sequel. 

"1 It is singular that this important discovery should have been made under the 3ag 
of Austria. 



[ ] 



92 



1787. Greek pilot, Juan de Fuca, declared that he had sailed into the 
Atlantic in 1592, it immediately received the name of the Strait 
of Fuca. Berkely did not, however, explore it to any considerable 

1788. distance from the Pacific. Captain Meares in 1788 sent one of 
his mates in a boat up the passage, who reported, on returning, 
that he " had sailed thirty leagues in it from the sea, and that it 
was there about fifteen leagues broad, with a clear horizon stretch- 
ing to the east about fifteen leagues farther." Captain Gray, in 
the Washington, in 1T89, proceeded fifty miles in the same pas- 
sage, and found it nowhere more than five leagues in width. An 
exaggerated account of this part of Gray's voyage was carried to 
Europe by Meares in 1790, and it contributed materially to in- 
duce the Governments of Spain and England to order those ex- 
peditions, which were so successfully conducted during the 
three following years by the navigators of each nation. It was 
said that the Washington had sailed through the strait into an 
interior sea, from which she passed again into the Pacific about 
the 56th degree of latitude. The account that such a voyage 
had been made was incorrect; but Captain Gray collected infor- 
mation from the natives of the coasts, which left no doubt on his 
mind that the passage communicated, northward of Nootka, with 
the Pacific, by an opening to which he had in the summer of 
1789 given the name of Pintard's Sound, but which is now gen- 
erally called Queen Charlotte's Sound. This opinion was veri- 
fied in 1792 by Vancouver, and Galiano and Valdes. 

1787. About the time of the discovery, or rather the re-discovery, of 
the Strait of Fuca, Captain Dixon, of the Queen Charlotte, from 
London, conceived that the land which had been seen by the 
Spaniards in 1774 and 1775, between the 51st and the 54th par- 
allels of latitude, was separated from the American continent by 
sea, and he accordingly bestowed upon it the name of Queen 
Charlotte's Island. This supposition was confirmed in the sum- 
May, naer of 1789, first by Captain Gray of the Washington, and after- 
July, wards by Captain Douglass of the Iphigenia, who separately cir- 
cumnavigated the island. Gray, believing himself to be the origi- 
nal discoverer of the territory, called it Washington's Isle ; under 
which appellation, as well as the other and more common one, it 
will be found laid down on the map accompanying this memoir. 
In the same summer a group of small islands were found near the 
continent, between it and the eastern side of Queen Charlotte's 
Island, by Captain Duncan, of the Princess Royal, from London, 
who in like manner applied to them the name of his vessel; Fieu- 
rieu considers them as the same which were seen in 1786 by La 
Perouse, and were called by him Isles de Fleurieu. 

The discovery of these islands, together with other circum- 
stances, led to the suspicion that the whole of the territories ex- 
tending on the Pacific, between the Strait of Fuca and the vi- 
cinity of Mount Saint Elias, which had previously been consid- 
ered as parts of the American continent, might be really a col- 
lection of islands ; and, as this suspicion gained strength, the 
old account of the voyage of Admiral Fonte to the Atlantic be- 
gan to receive some credit. The islands and reputed islands in 



93 



[ 174] 



question were supposed to be the Archipelago of San Lazaro, 1788. 
which were described in that account as situated near the 53d 
degree of latitude ; and this apparent confirmation of a part of the 
story gave encouragement for the hope that the Rio de los Reyes, 
and the other waters through which the Admiral was said to have 
sailed on his way to the Atlantic, in 1640, would also be found. 

At this period, moreover, an attempt was made by Captain July. 
John Meares, in the Felice, from Macao, to discover a harbor or 
river, which was represented on the Spanish maps as communi- 
cating with the Pacific near the 46th degree of latitude, immedi- 
ately south of a cape called San Roque. This opening had been 
first seen by Bruno Heceta in August, 1775, and was called on 
the maps Entrada de Heceta, or Entrada de Ascencion, and in 
some instances Rio de San Roque. The account given by 
Meares of his search is worthy of particular attention. 

Meares says that he discovered a headland in the latitude of 
46 degrees 47 minutes, which he called Cape Shoalwater ; sail- 
ing thence along the coast, towards the south, "an high blufF 
promontory bore off us southeast* at the distance of only four July 6. 
leagues, for which we steered to double, with the hope that be- 
tween it and Cape Shoalwater we should find some sort of har- 
bor. We now discovered distant land beyond this promontory, 
and we pleased ourselves with the expectation of its being Cape 
Saint Roc of the Spaniards, near which they are said to have 
found a good port. By half-past eleven we doubled this cape at 
the distance of three miles, having a clear and perfect view of the 
shore in every part, on which we did not discern a living crea- 
ture, or the least trace of habitable life. A prodigious easterly 
swell rolled on the shore, and the soundings gradually decreased 
from forty to sixteen fathoms over a hard sandy bottom. After 
we had rounded the promontory, a large bay, as we had imagined, 
opened to our view, that bore a very promising appearance, and 
into which we steered with every encouraging expectation. 

" The high land that formed the boundaries of the bay was at July 7. 
a great distance, and a flat level country occupied the intervening 
space ; the bay itself took rather a westerly direction. As we 
steered in, the water shoaled to nine, eight, and seven fathoms, 
when breakers were seen from the deck right ahead, and from 
the mast-head they were observed to extend across the bay ; we, 
therefore, hauled out, and directed our course to the opposite shore, 
to see if there was any channel, or if we could discover any port. 

"The name of Cape Disappointment was given to the promon- 
tory, and the bay obtained the title of Deception Bay. By an in- 
different meridian observation, it lies in the latitude of 46 degrees 
10 minutes north, and in the computed longitude of 235 degrees 
34 minutes east. We can now with safety assert that there is no 
such river as that of Saint Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish 
charts." 

This assertion, though somewhat ungrammatically expressed, 



* Meares's Account ol his Voyage, printed at London iu 1790. page 167. 



74] 



94 



88. is yet sufficiently clear and explicit. Captain Meares was con- 
vinced by his observations that n6 great stream entered the Pa- 
cific from the American continent near the latitude and places 
described by him. How far this conclusion was correct will be 
shown hereafter. 

In addition to the discoveries and examinations here specified, 
the British and American fur-traders, during the period between 
1785 and 1790, explored many other parts of the American coast 
which had been seen by the Spaniards or by Cook, and made 
numerous corrections in the charts of those navigators ; much, 
however, remained to be done in that way before the western 
shores of the continent could be accurately known, as may be 
seen by merely comparing the charts and accounts of Portlock 
and Meares with those of Vancouver published in 1797. 

The fur trade between the northwest coasts of America and 
Canton was, for some years after its establishment, upon the 
whole, less profitable than had been anticipated, in consequence 
doubtless of the difficulty of forming new channels of commer- 
cial communication in China. Whilst the market at Canton was 
overstocked with those articles, they were in great demand in the 
northern parts of the empire, which continued to be, as formerly, 
supplied directly from Russia. The first adventure of the citizens 
of the United States in this trade was entirely unprofitable. The 
skins collected by the Columbia and Washington during the 
summer of 1789 did not exceed in number eight hundred; they 
were carried in the autumn of that year to Canton, by Captain 
Gray in the Columbia, (Kendrick remaining on the coast in the 
Washington,) and were there exchanged for teas to the value of 
about sixty thousand dollars, with which the ship arrived, by 
way of the Cape of Good Hope, at Boston, on the 9th of August, 
1790. The proceeds of the sale of the teas did not cover the ex- 
penses of the outfit and voyage, and some of the owners, in con- 
sequence, sold out their shares ; the others, however, determined 
to persevere, and the Columbia was accordingly soon after sent 
back to the Pacific. 

It would be improper to omit to notice here the attempt made in 
1788 by John Ledyard, a native of Connecticut, to traverse the 
northern portion of the American continent. Ledyard had accom- 
panied Cook, in the capacity of sergeant of marines, in the last voy- 
age made by that navigator ; and, after its conclusion, he went to 
Paris in order to obtain the means of engaging in the fur trade of 
the north Pacific. Failing in that object, he undertook, at the sug- 
gestion of Mr. Jefferson, then Minister Plenipotentiary of the Uni- 
ted States in France, to make the attempt above mentioned, for 
which purpose it was arranged that he should go by land to Kam- 
schatka, thence by sea to Nootka, or some other place on the north- 
west coast of America, and thence across the continent to the Uni- 
ted States. With this view, permission was obtained by Mr. Jef- 
ferson from the Empress of Russia for Ledyard to pass through her 
dominions; and, thus protected, he advanced on his way as far as 
Irkutsk in Siberia, near Ochotsk, where he expected to embark 
for America. At that place, however, he was arrested by order of 



95 



[ 174 ] 



the Empress on the 24th of February, 1788, and, having been put 1788. 
into an open carriage, he was thence conveyed, without being 
allowed to stop, to the frontiers of Poland, where he was liberated 
with a warning not again to enter the Russian territory. On the 
15th of November following he died at Cairo, just as he was pre- 
paring to set out on a journey in search of the source of the 
river Nile. 

In the latter part of the period to which the present chapter 
relates, events occurred upon the northwest side of America, 
which rendered those territories for the first time the subject of 
dispute between the Governments of European nations. The 
seizure of two British trading vessels by a Spanish commandant 
at Nootka, in the spring of 1789, was near occasioning a general 
war in Europe ; and the storm was only averted by the abandon- 
ment on the part of Spain of her claims to the exclusive naviga- 
tion of the Pacific, and to the possession of the unoccupied terri- 
tories of America bordering upon that ocean. The circumstances 
connected wiih 4 this dispute will be detailed in the ensuing 
chapter. 



C 174] 



96 



CHAPTER VI, 

Jealousy and alarm of the Spanish Government at the proceeding:* of the fur-tra- 
ders in the north Pacific — Voyage of observation by Martinez and Haro in 1788 — 
Remonstrances of the Court of Madrid to that of St. Petersburg — Voyages of 
Meares and Coinett — Occupation of J^ootka, and seizure of vessels at thatplace 
by the Spaniards in 17S9 — Dispute between Great Britain and Spain ended by a 
treaty between those Powers relative to the navigation of the Pacific and the pos- 
session of the vacant coasts of America. 

1785. The movements of the fur- traders in the north Pacific were 
from the beginning regarded with uneasiness by the Spanish 
Government. The establishment of foreigners upon the coasts of 
that ocean adjacent to Mexico, the evil so long dreaded at Madrid, 
appeared imminent ; and there were no means which could with 
prudence be employed to arrest it. Remonstrances upon such 
points, addressed to the Courts of London and St. Petersburgh, 
would most probably be unavailing, while any attempt to enforce 
the exclusive regulations upon the coasts might involve Spain 
in Avars which it was then material to avoid. Under such cir- 
cumstances, all that could be done for the time was to watch the 
progress of the evil, in order that the most proper measures might 
be adopted for counteracting it, whenever opportunities should 
occur. 

1788. In consequence of instructions to this effect, the Viceroy of 
March 8. Mexico despatched from San Bias, in the spring oflTSS, two 
armed vessels, the Princesa and the San Carlos, under the com- 
mand of Estevan Jose Martinez, who was ordered to examine the 
northwest coasts of the continent, and to procure as accurate in- 
formation as possible with regard to the views of the Russians 
and other foreigners in that quarter. These vessels sailed direct 
for Prince William's Sound, where they arrived in the latter part 
May 25. of May. and were received with civility by the superintendents of 
the Russian Trading Company's establishments. The summer 
was passed by Martinez in visiting the different factories and forts 
of that association on the continent, and islands between the 
sound and Unalashka ; and the crews of his vessels beginning to 
Dec. 5. suffer from scurvy as the cold season approached, he returned, by 
way of Monterey, to San Bias, without having seen any other 
parts of the northwest coast. 

According to the report* addressed to the Viceroy of Mexico 



* Of this report, Humboldt says: !: I found in the archives of the Viceroyalty of 
Mexico a large volume in folio, bearing the title of Reconocimiento de los quairo 
Establecimientos Rusos al norte de la California, hecho en 1788. The historical ac- 
count of the voyage of Martinez contained in this manuscript furnishes, however, 
ver3 r few data relative to the Russian colonies in the new continent. As no person 
among his crew understood a word of the Russian language, they could only com- 
municate with the people of that nation by signs. ;; 



97 



[ 174] 



by Martinez, the Russian establishments in America were four in 1788. 
number, all of them situated west of Prince William's Sound ; 
and their population, including soldiers and hunters, amounted 
to four hundred. Beyond (that is, eastward of the sound) they 
had not advanced ; but it was understood that a large force was 
about to be sent from Asia, for the purpose of occupying Nootka 
Sound in the name of the Empress of Russia. The latter part of 
this account doubtless bore reference to the expedition of Ismy- 
lofF and BetscharerT, which was commenced in the summer of 
that year. 

Upon receiving this information of the intentions of the Rus- 
sians with regard to Nootka, the Viceroy of Mexico determined to 
anticipate them, if possible, by immediately taking possession of 
the place for his own Sovereign. With this view he ordered Mar- 
tinez to sail thither, with his vessels well armed and manned, 
and to occupy and defend the sound as a part of his Catholic 
Majesty's dominions ; in case any British or Russian vessels 
should present themselves there, tfcfey were to be treated with ci- 
vility and friendship, but their commanders were at the same 
time to be informed of the establishment of the Spanish authority 
over the territory.* With these instructions, Martinez quitted 
San Bias in February, 1789, and arrived at Nootka on the 6th of 
May following. 

The report concerning the projected seizure of Nootka by the 1789 ■ 
Russians was at the same time communicated by the Viceroy to 
his Government, and it was thereupon determined at Madrid that 
a memorialf should be addressed to the Empress of Russia, re- 
monstrating against the encroachments of her subjects upon the 
territories of his Catholic Majesty. It is to be remarked, that in 
this memorial Prince William's Sound is assumed as the limit be- 
tween the dominions of the two Sovereigns ; the first instance of an 
admission by the Spanish Government of the right of any other 
Power to occupy a part of America bordering upon the Pacific. 
The Empress of Russia answered, that orders had been already 
given to her subjects to make no settlements in places belonging 
to other nations, and if those orders had been violated with regard 
to Spanish America, she hoped his Catholic Majesty would arrest 
the encroachments in a friendly manner. With this answer, 
which was more courteous than specific, the Spanish minis- 
ter professed himself content; observing, however, that "Spain 
could not be responsible for what her officers might do at places 
so distant, while they were acting under general orders not to 
allow any settlements to be made by other nations on the Span- 
ish American continent." 

While this diplomatic correspondence was passing between the 
Courts of Madrid and St. Petersburgh, events were occurring on May, 



* For the instructions given to Martinez, see the Introduction to the Narrative of 
the Voyage of the Sutil and Mexicans., which may be considered as an official 
work. 

t See the memorial addressed by the Court of Spain to that of Great Britain on 
the 13th of June, 1790, in the London Annual Register for that year, page 294. 



98 



H89. the northwest coast of America, from which the most material 
consequences resulted. These events have been variously rep- 
resented, or rather misrepresented, by the historians* to whom we 
usually look for information respecting them. It may, indeed, be 
asserted, without fear of disproof, that in all the accounts hitherto 
published of the immediate causes of the controversy between 
Great Britain and Spain in 1790, relative to the navigation of the 
Pacific and Southern Oceans, and the unoccupied portions of 
America bordering upon those seas, the most important circum- 
stances are exhibited in a form and light entirely different from 
those which would be produced by a full and impartial review of 
the evidences. 

With the object of endeavoring to correct these errors, a narra- 
tive of the events above mentioned will here be presented, drawn 
entirely from the original sources of information. f Many of the 



* Viz: Bissett's Continuation of Hume and Smollett; Belsham's History of Great 
Britain ; Wade's Chronological History of England ; the History of Spain and Por- 
tugal, by Busk, published under the direction of the Society for the Diffusion of Use- 
ful Knowledge; the Introduction to the Narrative of the Voyage of the Sutil and 
Mexicaria; the History of Maritime and Inland Adventure and Discovery, form- 
ing part of Lardner's Encyclopaedia • Brenton's Naval History of Great Britain; 
Giff >rd's Lite of William Pitt; &c. The accounts of these British writers have been 
generally admitted and stated as correct in the reports respecting the northwest 
coast, presented by committees to the Congress of the United States; and no at- 
tempt seems to have been made to controvert or question them in the course of any 
negotiations between the United States and Great Britain. 

t Thue sources of information are : 

I. Journal of Voyages in the Pacific Ocean in 1788 and 1789, by John Meares. 
In the Appendix to the Journal of Meares is the 

II. Memorial addressed to the House of Commons of Great Britain on the 13th of 
May, 1790, by John Meares, in behalf of the owners of certain vessels seized atNootka 
Sound in 1789 by the Spani-m commandant Martinez, praying that measures might 
be taken to obtain indemnification for those losses, as also for the seizure of certain 
lands and houses on the northwest coast of America, claimed by the petitioners as 
their property. An abstract of this memorial, carefully composed so as exclude all 
circumstances which might weaken the claims of the petitioners, may be found in 
the Annual Register for 1790, page 287. The journal of the voyages of Meares re- 
lates, in part, to the circumstances which form the subject of the memorial; on com- 
paring the two, it will be found that they are frequently at variance. 

III. Account of Voyages in the Pacific, made between 1790 and 1794 by Captain 
George Vancouver of the British navy, who had been sent by his Government to 
explore that ocean, and also to superintend the delivery by the Spanish authorities 
of certain territories at and near Nootka Sound, in virtue of the treaty of Octo- 
ber, 1790. 

IV. Account of a Voyage in the Pacific, made in 1793 and 1791 by Captain James 
Colnett. The only parts of this work relating to the affairs in question are the In- 
troduction and a note at page 96. 

V. The Introduction by Navarrete to the Narrative of he Voyages of the Span- 
ish Schooners Sutil and Mexicana in 1791-2; which is here cited only to show that 
it has been consulted. 

In addition to the abovementioned printed works, is the lollowing, as yet unpub- 
lished: 

VI. Letter written at Nootka Sound in August, 1792, by Joseph Ingraham, mas- 
ter of the American merchant brig Hope, and signed by himself and Robert Gray, 
master of the Ship Columbia, respecting the events at Nootka in 1789, of which one 
or bom of them were witnesses; it was written in compliance with a request from 
Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Q.uadra. the Spanish commandant at Nootka, 
by whom a copy of it was deli vered to Vancouver. In the first volume of the Nar- 
rative of Vancouver, page 389, may be found a synopsis of this letter, in which the 
evidence of the Americans is carefully garbled to suit the purposes of the British 
commander. A copy of the letter in full, extracted from the original Journal of In- 
graham, is given in' the appendix [ D] to this memoir. 



99 



[ 174] 



details may at first appear trifling and unworthy of note ; it is be- 1789, 
lieved, however, that none have been introduced which are not 
indispensable for the attainment of the end proposed, while no 
circumstances have been omitted which might, if related, have 
led to different conclusions. This narrative must be preceded 
by some observations and statements, which are necessary in 
order that proper judgments may be formed upon the circum- 
stances. 

In the first place, it is certain that, before the arrival of the Span- 
ish commander Martinez at Nootka, in May, 1789, no settlement, 
factory, or commercial or military establishment whatsoever, had 
been founded or even attempted; and no jurisdiction had been exer- 
cised by the subjects or authorities of any civilized nat ion in any part 
of America bordering upon the Pacific, between Port San Francisco 
and Prince William's Sound. The Spaniards, the British, the 
Russians, and the French had landed at various places on these 
coasts, where they had displayed flags and erected crosses and 
monuments in token of the claims of their respective sovereigns 
to the surrounding territories ; but such acts are, and were then, 
generally regarded as idle ceremonies, securing no effectual 
rights to those who engaged in them. Nor does it appear that 
any portion of the soil within these limits had become the prop- 
erty of a foreigner, notwithstanding that the British Government 
did in 1790 demand, and Spain engaged by treaty to restore, sev- 
eral pieces of land and buildings in the vicinity of Nootka Sound, 
which were claimed as belonging to John Meares and other Brit- 
ish subjects at the time of the occupation of that place by the 
forces of his Catholic Majesty. Although this demand was thus 
formally urged and admitted, many circumstances, which will be 
related in the sequel, combine to prove conclusively that it was 
entirely destitute of foundation. 

The right of sovereignty over this vast region was claimed by 
the King of Spain, and no other Power had formally contested 
his pretensions, notwithstanding the Russians were advancing 
upon the continent in the north, and the British ministry had, it is 
said, a short time previously deliberated upon the question whe- 
ther New Albion or New Holland should be selected for the es- 
tablishment of their contemplated penal colony. That the Span- 
iards were the first discoverers of the west coasts of America as 
far north as the 58th degree of latitude, with the exception of the 
small portion near the 56th parallel seen by the Russians in 1741, 
has been already demonstrated ; the fact is as indisputable as that 
the Portuguese discovered the south coasts of Africa. To assume 
that Spain thereby acquired the right of excluding all other na- 
tions from these coasts, whether her subjects settled on them or 
not, would be absurd ; but it would, at the same time, be unjust 
to deny that her title to occupy them was better than that of any 
other nation, not only in virtue of priority of discovery, but also 
from their continuity with her own undoubted possessions. It 
is unnecessary to indicate the various modes in which this better 
right might have been exercised by Spain without giving just 
cause of complaint to other Powers ; the object of these observa- 



[ 174 ] 100 

1789. tions being merely to show that her occupation of Nootka in 1789 
was, per se, conformable with justice, and with the recognised 
principles of national law. 
1788. In order to present a satisfactory view of the events attending 
Jan. i. tliat occupation, the account must commence from the month of 
January, 1788, when two vessels, the Felice and the Iphigenia, 
sailed from Macao,* for the northwest coast of America, to be em- 
ployed in the fur trade, under the direction of John Meares, a lieu- 
tenant in the British navy, then on half-pay, who went in the Felice. 
The Iphigenia also carried a British subject, William Douglas, as 
supercargo; both vessels, however, were commanded by Portu- 
guese, they were both furnished with Portuguese passports and 
other papers, showing them to be the property of Juan Cavallo, a 
Portuguese merchant of Macao, and they quitted that place under 
the flag of Portugal. The instructionsf for the conduct of the 
voyage were written in the Portuguese language, and contained 
nothing whatsoever calculated to afford a suspicion that any other 
than Portuguese subjects were engaged in the enterprise. These 
instructions conclude with the following injunction to the com- 
manders of the vessels : " Should you meet with any Russian, 
English, or Spanish vessels, you will treat them with civility, 
and allow them, if they are authorized, to examine your papers ; 
should they, however, attempt to seize you, or to carry you out of 
your way, you will prevent it by every means in your power, and 
repel force by force. In case you should in such conflict have 
the superiority, you will take possession of the vessel that at- 
tacked you, as also of her cargo, and bring both, with the officers 
and crew, to China, that they may be condemned as legal prizes, 
and the crew punished as pirates." 

Notwithstanding all these evidences of ownership and national 
character, it is asserted by Mr. Meares, in the memorial addressed 
by him to the British Government in 1790, that the Felice and 
the Iphigenia ivere actually and bona fide British property, em- 
ployed in the service of British subjects only; that Cavallo had 
no concern or interest in them, his name being merely used for 
the purpose of obtaining permission from the Governor of Macao 
to navigate under the Portuguese flag, and thus to evade the ex- 
cessive port charges demanded by the Chinese from all other Eu- 
ropean nations ; and that Messrs. Meares and Douglas were real- 
ly the commanders of the vessels, instead of the two Portuguese 
who appeared as such in their papers. These assertions may 
have been, at least in part, true ; but the documents attached by 
Meares to his memorial amply prove that the deception was con- 
tinued at Nootka, where there were no Chinese authorities, al- 
though no hint is given, in his account of the voyages of the ves- 



* Macao is situated on the southern extremity of an island near the mouth of the 
River Tygris in China, about sixty miles below Canton. It was granted to the Por- 
tuguese by the Emperor of China in 1518, and has ever since remained in their pos- 
session, although the Chinese Government exercises considerable control over all 
their proceedings. 

t Appendix, No. 1, to Meares's Account of his Voyage to the Pacific. 



101 



[174] 



sels, that either of them was, or ever appeared to be, other than 1788. 
British. Greater discrepancies, positive as well as negative, be- 
tween the journal and the memorial, remain to be noticed. 

The truth with regard to the vessels probably was, that they 
were actually and bona fide Portuguese property, though some of 
the persons in whose service they were then employed might 
have been British subjects. The Portuguese flag at that time Of- 
fered peculiar advantages for the prosecution of the fur trade, be- 
sides the freedom from the port charges of the Chinese ; for no 
British vessel could engage in the business without becoming li- 
able to confiscation, except those of the King George's Sound 
Company, which had obtained a privilege to that effect from the 
South Sea Company of London. The instructions to the com- 
manders of the Felice and the Iphigenia, to seize and bring to Ma- 
cao for trial any English vessels which might attempt to interrupt 
them in their voyage, were doubtless levelled at those of the King 
George's Sound Company, which were then expected in the Pa- 
cific, with orders and materials for establishing forts and factories 
on the northwest coast of America. With regard to these in- 
structions it should be added, that, although they are remarkably 
precise and minute, no allusion whatsoever is made in them to 
the acquisition of land or the erection of buildings in America. 

From Macao the Iphigenia sailed for Cook's River, while 
Meares in the Felice proceeded to Nootka Sound, which he en- 
tered on the 13th of May. There he immediately began to build May 
a small vessel for coasting, and, being desirous during the prog- 
ress of this work to take a trip to the southward, he made ar- 
rangements with King Maquinna, who, as related in Mr. Meares's 
Journal of the Yoyage, page 114, "most readily consented to 
grant us a spot of ground in his territory, whereon an house 
might be built for the accommodation of the people we intended 
to leave behind, and also promised us his assistance and protec- 
tion for the party who were destined to remain at Nootka during 
our absence. In return for this kindness, and to insure the con- 
tinuance of it, the chief was presented with a pair of pistols, which 
he had regarded with an eye of solicitation ever since our arrival. 
Upon this spot a house sufficiently spacious to contain all the 
party intended to be left at the Sound was erected; a strong 
breastwork was thrown up around it, enclosing a considerable 
area of ground, which, with one piece of cannon placed in such 
a manner as to command the cove and village of Nootka, formed 
a fortification sufficient to secure the party from any intrusion." 

That this spot of ground was granted by Maquinna, and was 
to be occupied by the strangers only for temporary purposes, is 
clear from the above statement, and Meares nowhere in the jour- 
nal of his voyage pretends that he acquired permanent posses- 
sion of it, or of any other land in America ; on the contrary, he 
expressly states, page 130, "that, as a bribe to secure Maquinna's 
attachment, he was promised that when we finally left the coast 
he should enter into full possession of the house and all the goods 
thereunto belonging." In his memorial to Parliament, however, 
he declares that " immediately on his arrival at Nootka Sound, he 
8 



[174] 



102 



1788. purchased from Maquilla, the chief of the district contiguous to 
Ma ^- and surrounding that place, a spot of ground whereon he built a 
house for his occasional residence, as well as for the more conve- 
nient pursuit of his trade with the natives, and hoisted British 
colors thereon/' Among the documents attached to the memo- 
rial, no mention is made of this purchase, except in the informa- 
tion of William Graham, a seaman of the Felice, taken in London 
after the date of the memorial, who declares that " he saw Mr. 
Meares deliver some articles of merchandise to Maquilla, the 
sovereign Prince of the said sound, which he then understood 
and believed were given as consideration for lands required by 
Mr. Meares for an establishment on shore." # The British Gov- 
ernment, as will be seen, went still farther, and claimed the whole 
territory surrounding Nootka as included within the terms of this 
asserted purchase. 

Such is the evidence upon which the British historians of that 
period insist that Meares purchased a large tract of land at Noot- 
ka, and established on it a factory defended by a fort under the 
British flag. 

Having completed his arrangements, Meares sailed in the Fe- 
lice towards the south, leaving a part of his crew at Nootka, to 
which place he did not return until the latter part of July. Du- 
ring this period he endeavored to explore the Strait of Fuca, and 
to find the mouth of the great River San Roque, near the 46th 
degree of latitude, in both of which attempts he was, as before 
related, unsuccessful. He declares in his memorial that he like- 
wise " obtained from Wiccanish, the chief of the district surround- 
ing Port Cox and Port Effingham, (places thus named by him- 
self, but otherwise known as Clyoquot and Nittinat,) situated in 
the latitudes of 48 and 49 degrees, in consequence of considera- 
ble presents, the promise of a free and exclusive trade with the 
natives of the district, as also permission to build any storehouses 
or other edifices which he might judge necessary; and that he 
also acquired the same privileges of exclusive trade from Ta- 
tootche, the chief of the country bordering upon the Strait of Fu- 
ca, and purchased from him a tract of land within the said strait, 
which one of his officers took possession of in the King's name, 
calling the same Tatootche, in honor of the chief." 

Of these purchases and cessions of territory there is no other 
evidence than the declaration of Mr. Meares in his memorial;^ for 



* The only statement besides this declaration, tending to confirm the assertion of 
Meares in his memorial, is that (hereafter noticed) made to Vancouver in 1792 at 
Nootka, by Robert Duffin, who had also been one of the crew of the Felice in 1788. 
He is represented by Vancouver (vol. i, page 405) as declaring that he witnessed 
the purchase by Meares "of the whole of the land which forms Friendly Cove, 
Nootka Sound, in his Britannic Majesty's name, for eight sheets of copper and some 
trifles." 

t It is probable, from the numerous discrepancies between Meares's Journal of 
his Voyage and his memorial, that the former was written and printed before the 
latter was drawn up. We may also suspect, from the silence of all the documents 
brought to London with regard to the purchases of lands on the northwest coast, 
that the idea of setting up this claim suggested itself, or was suggested, to Meares 
after his arrival in England. 



103 



[174] 



they are not noticed either in the documents attached to that me- 1788. 
morial, or in the Journal of his Voyage, which is tediously minute 
as to this trip, or any where else ; yet his claim, based solely upon 
his own statement, was supported by his Government and admit- 
ted by that of Spain. 

After the return of Meares to Nootka Sound, the sloop Washing- Sept. 17. 
ton, Captain Gray, arrived there from Boston ; the small vessel 
which had been commenced by the crew of the Felice in the spring 
was completed, and received the name of Northwest America; and 
the Iphigenia came in from the northern coasts laden with furs. Sept. 24. 
As a number of skins had also been obtained by the Felice during 
the summer, Meares determined to transfer to that vessel all those 
in the Iphigenia, and to sail with them immediately for Macao ; 
which he accordingly did, leaving the sound on the 28th of Sep- Sept. 28. 
tember. In the course of the following month the Ship Colum- Oct. 
bia, Captain Kendrick, arrived from Boston, and the Iphigenia 
and Northwest America departed for the Sandwich Islands, leav- 
ing the two American vessels to winter at Nootka. 

Meares reached Macao in the Felice early in December, and Dec. 
soon afterwards two vessels, the Princess Royal and the Prince of 
Wales, belonging to the King George's Sound Company, arrived 
at that place under the command of James Colnett, an officer of 
the British navy on half pay. In the latter vessels also came an 
agent of the said company, between whom and the proprietors of 
the Felice and Iphigenia an arrangement was made for uniting 
the interests of both parties. In consequence of this arrangement, 
the Felice was sold or dismissed, and the Princess Royal, toge- 1789. 
ther with a ship called the Argonaut, bought for the purpose by 
the association, were despatched to Nootka, under the direction 
of Colnett, who sailed in the Argonaut. These vessels appear to April, 
have been navigated under the British flag ; Cavallo could not 
have acted as their owner, for he had become a bankrupt, and his 
failure was probably the cause of the formation of the new com- 
pany. 

The management of the affairs of the association at Macao ap- 
pears to have been committed entirely to Meares, who drew up 
the instructions for Colnett. From these instructions, of which 
a copy is appended by Meares to his memorial, it is evident that 
there was really an intention to found a permanent establish- 
ment on some part of the northwest coast of America, although 
no spot is designated as its site, and no hint is given of any ac- 
quisition of territory having been already made at or near Nootka 
Sound; indeed, the only reference to that place, in the whole pa- 
per, is contained in the words "we recommend you, if possible, 
to form a treaty with the various chiefs, particularly at Nootka." 
Yet Meares, in his memorial, strangely enough says: "Mr. Col- 
nett was directed to fix his residence at Nootka Sound, and, with 
that view, to erect a substantial house on the spot which your 
memorialist had purchased in the preceding year, as will appear 
by a copy of his instructions hereunto annexed." 

While the Argonaut and Princess Royal were on their way to 
Nootka, the Iphigenia and Northwest America returned to that April 20. 



[174] 



104 



1739. place from the Sandwich Islands in a most distressed condition* 

April 30. The Iphigenia was, indeed, a -mere wreck. Her supercargo, or 
captain, Douglas, declares in his journal, attached to the memo- 
rial, that u she had like to have foundered at sea for want of pitch 
and tar to stop the leaks ; she had no bread on board, and noth- 
ing for her crew to live on but salt pork; she was without cables,' 7 
and, on attempting to secure her in the sound, u every rope gave 
way, so that we were obliged to borrow a fall from the American 
sloop "Washington," which with the ship Columbia were found 
lying there. The Washington had already made a cruise to the 
southward, in the course of which she advanced some distance 

April -25. up the Strait of Fuca ; a few days after the arrival of the other 
vessels, she took her departure for the north, and was immediate- 

Ap ril,2& ly followed by the Northwest America, which had been hastily 
equipped and provided with articles for trade on a short voyage. 
The Columbia remained at Nootka the whole summer, and we 
are indebted to her mate, Joseph Ingraham, for the only account 
of the occurrences at the sound, during that period, proceeding 
from a disinterested witness. 

May 6. On the 6th of May Martinez arrived at Nootka in the corvette 
Princesa, and immediately informed the officers of the Columbia 
and Iphigenia that he had come to take possession of the country 
for the King of Spain ; he then examined the papers of the two 
vessels, and, appearing to be content with them, he landed artil- 
lery and materials, and began to erect a fort on a small island at 
the entrance of Friendly Cove. With this assumption of authori- 
ty no dissatisfaction was expressed or entertained by either of the 
other parties present ; on the contrary, the utmost good feeling 
seemed to subsist on all sides for several days. The officers of 
the different vessels visited and dined with each other ; and Mar- 
tinez readily supplied the Iphigenia, at the request of her com- 
mander, with articles of which she was in need, in order that she 
might go to sea immediately, accepting in return for them bills 
drawn upon Cavallo of Macao as her owner. 

It is proper to remark here, that, on the arrival of the Spaniards 
at Nootka, no vestige remained of the house built, or said to have 
been built, by Meares, or of any other preparation for a settlement 
near the sound. This is expressly stated by Gray and Ingraham, 
who, moreover, declare their conviction that no house was ever 
erected by Meares at Nootka ; and it is corroborated by the entire 
silence, on that head, of Douglas, Colnett, and every other per- 
son whose testimony is cited in conjunction with the memorial 
to Parliament. 

May 13. Things remained thus at Nootka for a week, at the end of which 
time the other Spanish vessel, the San Carlos, arrived, under the 

May 14. command of Lieutenant Haro. On the following day, Martinez 
invited Yiana and Douglas, the chief officers of the Iphigenia, to 
come on board the Princesa, where he immediately told them 
that they were prisoners, and that their vessel was to be seized; 
alleging in justification of his proceedings that their instructions 
contained a clause directing them to seize and carry to Macao any 
E nglish, Russian, or Spanish vessels which they could overcome. 



105 



[ 174] 



Douglas insisted that the instructions had been misinterpreted, 1789. 
and that, although he did not understand Portuguese* in which Ma ^ 14> 
they were written, he had seen a copy of them at Macao, and 
knew their sense to be otherwise. Martinez, however, adhered 
to his resolution ; the Iphigenia was in consequence boarded by 
the Spaniards ; her men, with her charts, journals, and other pa- 
pers, were transferred to the ships of war, and preparations were 
commenced for sending her to San Bias. 

While these preparations were in progress, the Spanish com- 
mandant altered his intentions, and proposed to release the Iphi- 
genia and her crew, on condition that her officers would sign a 
declaration to the effect that she had not been interrupted, but 
had been kindly treated and supplied by him during her stay at 
Nootka. This proposition was at first refused ; negotiations, how- 
ever, took place, through the medium of Captain Kendrick of 
the Columbia, the results of which were that the declaration was 
signed by the officers of the Iphigenia, and she and her crew 
were liberated on the 26th of May. Messrs. Viana and Douglas, May 26. 
at the same time, engaged for themselves, as " captain and super- 
cargo respectively, and for Juan Cavallo of Macao, as owner of the 
said vessel" to pay her value, on demand, to the order of the Vice- 
roy of Mexico, in case he should pronounce her capture legal. 
The vessel having been completely equipped for sea by the Span- 
iards, she sailed on the 2d of June for the northern coasts, where June 2, 
seven hundred sea-otter skins were collected, by trading with 
the natives, before her departure for the Sandwich Islands and 
China. "This trade was so brisk," says Meares in his Journal 
of the Voyage, that " all the stock of iron ivas soon expended, and 
they were under the necessity of cutting up the chain-plates and 
hatch-bars of the vessel" in order to find the means of purchas- 
ing the skins offered. In the memorial, however, not only is all 
notice of this part of the Iphigenia's voyage omitted, but it is im- 
plicitly declared! that she sailed directly from Nootka to the Sand- 
wich Islands. Meares insists that the conduct of the Spaniards 
towards the Iphigenia and her men was violent and rapacious ; 
on the other hand, Messrs. Gray and Ingraham declare that her 
detention was in every respect advantageous to the owners, as 
she was completely repaired and supplied for her voyage, and she 
would otherwise have been obliged to remain inactive at Nootka, 
for at least two months longer, during the best season for trading. 

The seizure of the Iphigenia by Martinez can scarcely be con- 
sidered as unjust or unmerited, when it is recollected that if, in 



* Extracts from the Journal of Douglas, annexed to the memorial of Meares. 

t "During the time the Spaniards held possession of the Iphigenia, she was stripped 
of all the merchandise which had been prepared for trading, as also of her stores, 
provisions, nautical instruments, charts, &c, an d in short of every article, except tvjelve 
■cars oj boa, which they could conveniently carry away. * * * On leaving Nootka 
Sound, the Iphigenia, though in a very unfit condition for such a voyage, proceeded 
from thence to the Sandwich Islands, and, a fter obtaining there such supplies as they 
■were enabled to procure with the iron before mentioned, returned to China, and an- 
chored there in the month of October, 1789."— Memorial addressed to Parliament by 
.Mt tires. 



[174] 



106 



1789. attempting to enforce, with regard to her, the orders of his Gov- 
June. ernment, (orders perfectly conformable with the principles of na- 
tional law, as universally recognised, and with treaties between 
Spain and all other Powers,) he had been resisted and overcome, 
he, with his officers and men, would have been carried as prison- 
ers to Macao, to be tried for piracy. Moreover, he had been in- 
formed that Meares was daily expected to arrive at Nootka, with 
other vessels belonging to the same concern; and it was his duty 
to provide against the possibility of being overpowered, and of 
having his flag insulted, by lessening the forces of those from 
whom he had every reason to apprehend an attack. Indeed, the 
only ground upon which he could have excused himself to his 
Government for releasing the Iphigenia must have been, that at 
the time when the instructions to her officers were written, it was 
not anticipated that Spain would take possession of any part of 
the northwest coast of America. 
June 8. At the end of a week from the departure of the Iphigenia, the 
Northwest America returned to Nootka, and was immediately 
seized by Martinez. On what grounds or pretexts this seizure 
was based, there are no means of ascertaining. Gray and In- 
graham understood that it was in consequence of an agreement 
between the Spanish commandant and the officers of the Iphige- 
nia; this is, however, expressly denied by Douglas, who declares 
that both threats and promises had been used in vain to induce 
him to sell the small vessel at a price far below her value. A few 
days afterwards, the Princess Royal (one of the vessels sent from 
June 16. Macao by the associated companies) arrived in the sound, under 
the command of William Hudson, and was received and treated, 
during her stay, with respect and attention by' the Spaniards. She 
brought information of the failure of Juan Cavallo, the Portu- 
guese merchant, upon whom, as owner of the Iphigenia, the bills 
given by the commander of that vessel in payment of the sup- 
plies were drawn; and upon learning this, Martinez announced 
his determination to hold the Northwest America, which belonged 
to the same concern, in satisfaction for the amount of those bills. 
She was, in consequence, immediately equipped for a trading- 
voyage, and sent out under the direction of one of the mates of 
the Columbia; her officers and men being set at liberty, and re- 
ceiving nearly all the furs found on board of her at the time of 
her capture. 

July 2. The Princess Royal, after remaining some days at Nootka un- 
disturbed by the Spaniards, sailed from that place on a cruise. As 
she was leaving the sound, her companion, the Argonaut, came 
in from Macao under the command of Captain Colnett, who had 
been, as before stated, charged by the associated companies with 
the direction of all their affairs on the American coasts, and with 
the establishment of a fort and factory for their benefit. What 
followed with regard to this vessel has been variously repre- 
sented, or rather has been represented under various colors, for 
the principal facts are admitted by all to have been these : 

July 4. As soon as the Argonaut appeared at the entrance of the sound, 
she was boarded by the Spanish commandant, who invited her 



107 



[ 174 ] 



captain to come into the port, and supply the ships of war with 1789. 
some necessary articles ; presenting, at the same time, a letter from July :L 
Hudson, in which the good treatment of the Princess Royal and 
her crew were acknowledged in flattering terms ; Barnett, the 
mate of the Northwest America, Ingraham, the mate of the Co- 
lumbia, and some other persons, likewise came on board, and 
communicated what had occurred with regard to the Iphigenia j u iy 3. 
and the small vessel. Colnett, upon this, informed Martinez that 
he had come to take possession of Nootka, and to erect a fort 
there under the British flag. The Spaniard replied, that the 
place was already occupied by the forces of his Catholic Majes- 
ty ; but that if the Argonaut should enter the sound, she should 
be treated with civility and attention, and be allowed to depart 
without hindrance. After some debate, the Englishman agreed to 
go into the harbor; and before midnight, his vessel was anchored 
in Friendly Cove between the Princesa and the San Carlos. 

On the following day, Colnett, having supplied the Spanish July 4. 
ships with some articles, announced his intention to go to sea in 
the evening; whereupon, Martinez requested him first to come 
on board the Princesa and exhibit his papers. The captain ac- 
cordingly went, in uniform and with his sword, to the cabin of 
■the commandant, where an altercation took place between the 
parties; the results of which were, the arrest of Colnett, and the 
seizure of the Argonaut by the Spaniards. From the moment of 
his arrest, Colnett was delirious or insane, and Robert Duffin, 
the mate of the Argonaut, became in consequence the representa- 
tive of the owners of that vessel. 

On the 13th of July the Princess Royal appeared at the mouth 
of the sound, and her captain, Hudson, having entered Friendly 
Cove in a boat, was there arrested with his men; after which, the 
vessel was boarded and brought in as a prize by the Spaniards. 
On the following day the Argonaut sailed for San Bias, carry- 
ing nearly all the British subjects taken at Nootka as prisoners, 
under the charge of a Spanish lieutenant and crew. Those who 
were captured in the Northwest America were, however, em- 
barked as passengers in the Columbia for Macao ; one hundred 
of the otter skins found in the Princess Royal being allowed by 
Martinez in payment of their wages and transportation. 

The Columbia left Nootka in August ; soon afterwards she 
met the Washington, which had just returned from her voy- 
age up the Strait of Fuca ; and it was agreed between the cap- 
tains, that Gray should take command of the ship, and proceed to 
China and the United States, with all the furs which had been 
collected, while Kendrick should remain on the coast in the 
Washington. Finally, in November, Martinez quitted Nootka 
Sound, and sailed with all his vessels for Mexico, leaving Ma- 
quinna again in quiet possession of his dominions. 

If the statements of Meares, in his memorial, and of Colnett, in 
the account published by him respecting the capture of the Ar- 
gonaut and Princess Royal, and the treatment of their officers and 
men by the Spaniards, be admitted as conveying a fall and cor- 
rect view of the circumstances, the conduct of Martinez must be 



[174] 



108 



I7fi9. considered as nearly equivalent to piracy. From these state- 
ments it would appear that the vessels were treacherously seized, 
without any reasonable grounds, or even pretexts, and with the 
sole premeditated object, of plundering them; and that the most 
cruel acts of violence, insult, and restraint, were wantonly com- 
mitted upon the officers and men, during the whole period of 

July 4. their imprisonment. Colnett relates* that when he presented 
his papers to Martinez in the cabin of the Princesa, the command- 
ant, without examining them, pronounced them to be forged, and 
immediately declared that the Argonaut should not go to sea ; 
that, upon his " remonstrating (in what terms he does not say) 
against this breach of good faith and forgetfulness of word and 
honor pledged" the Spaniard rose in apparent anger, and intro- 
duced a party of armed men, by whom he was struck down, 
placed in the stocks, and then closely confined; that he was after- 
wards carried from ship to ship like a criminal, threatened with 
instant execution as a pirate, and subjected to so many injuries 
and indignities, as to throw him into a violent fever and deliri- 
um, which were near proving fatal; and that his officers and men 
were imprisoned and kept in irons, from the time of their seizure 
until their arrival at San Bias, where many of them died in con- 
sequence of ill treatment. Meares, in his memorial, confirms the 
assertions of Colnett ; and he adds, with regard to the capture of 
the Princess Royal, that her commander, Hudson, after his arrest 
at Friendly Cove, was forced (by means of threats of immediate 
execution) to send written orders to his mate, to deliver up the 
vessel without resistance to the Spaniards. 

Many of these statements are supported by the deposition of 
the officers and seamen of the Northwest America, taken in Chi- 
na, which is appended to the memorial; some of them, however, 
are directly contradicted, while the greater part are invalidated, 
not only by the declarations of Gray and Ingraham, but even by 
the admissions ofDuffin, the mate of the Argonaut, in his letters, 
also attached to the same petition. Thus the American cap- 
tains understood, " from those whose veracity they had no reason 
to doubt," that Colnett, at his interview with Martinez in the cab- 
in of the Princesa, denied the right of the Spaniards to occupy 
Nootka, and endeavored to impose upon the commandant by rep- 
resenting himself as empowered by his Government to erect a fort 
and settle a colony at that place under the British flag, and that he 
afterwards insulted the Spaniard by threatening him and draw- 
ing his sword. Colnett himself says that he attempted to draw 
his sword on the occasion, but that it was in order to defend him- 
self against those who assailed him ; and it must be allowed to 
be very difficult to " remonstrate" with a man upon " his breach 
of faith, and forgetfulness of his word and honor pledged" with- 

July 14. out insulting him. Dufhn, writing to Meares from Nootka, ten 
days after the seizure, gives nearly the same account of the inter- 
view, adding that the misunderstanding was most probably oc- 



* See Colnett's Account of a Voyage in the Pacific in 1793 ; note at page 96. 



109 



casioned by the interpreter's ignorance of the English language. 1 
He says that Martinez appeared to be very sorry for what had 
happened, and had " behaved with great civility, by obliging his 
prisoners with every liberty that could be expected and he 
complains of no violence, either to the feelings or to the persons 
of any of the crews of the vessels seized, although he charges 
the Spaniards with plundering both openly and secretly. More- 
over, Duffin declares, and Meares repeats in his memorial, that 
the disease with which Colnett was afflicted after his arrest was 
a fit of insanity occasioned by fear and disappointment operating 
upon a mind naturally weak and hereditarily predisposed to such 
alienation. This assertion is indignantly repelled by Colnett, in 
his account of the affair, to which he annexes a letter of apology 
and retraction from Meares. 

No other evidence has been presented on the part of Spain, re- 
specting these proceedings, than what is contained in the notes 
and memorials addressed by the Court of Madrid on the subject 
to various European Governments in 1790, and in the Introduc- 
tion to the Narrative of the Voyage of the Sutil and Mexicana; 
all of which statements, though made officially, are, without 
doubt, erroneous on many of the most material points. 

Upon reviewing all the circumstances as they are presented to 
us, there is little doubt that Colnett acted towards the Spanish 
commandant in a manner so extravagant and intemperate as to 
render his arrest perfectly justifiable ; the detention of his vessel, 
however, cannot be defended on the same grounds, and the seiz- 
ure of the Princess Royal appears to have been totally unauthor- 
ized and inexcusable. The commanders of Spanish American 
posts were, indeed, ordered by their general instructions to seize 
all foreign vessels entering or cruising in the vicinity of the terri- 
tories under their control ; and the enforcement of these orders 
was directly or tacitly admitted by all the nations with which 
Spain had made treaties relating to those dominions. But it 
could not have been reasonably intended by the Spanish Gov- 
ernment, or allowed by other Powers, that such regulations 
should be enforced at a new settlement, in a region so remote, 
before the people of any other country could be informed of the 
fact of the establishment. We know, moreover, from the highest 
authority, that Martinez was specially instructed to treat all Brit- 
ish or Russian vessels which might arrive at Nootka with civili- 
ty ; and, although he might have with propriety disarmed Col- 
nett's ships, if he apprehended amy attack from them, he certainly 
had no right to take possession of them, and to appropriate their 
cargoes, as he did, to his own uses, merely because their com- 
mander had refused to recognise the supremacy of Spain in that 
region. 

Meares, Vancouver, and other British writers, in alluding to 
these occurrences, endeavor to cast blame on the commanders of 
the two American vessels, which were at the time in or near 
Nootka Sound, by representing them as aiding and supporting 
the Spaniards in their oppressive proceedings. Upon examining 
the facts, we find that the Americans never pretended to ques- 



[ 174] 



110 



1789. tion the right of Spain to the country ; and the conduct of the 
British towards them was not such, if we may judge from the 
expressions of Meares, as to excite any friendly feelings on their 
part. All that can be alleged against Captains Kendrick and 
Gray seems to be that they profited, as they were entitled to do, 
by the quarrels between the other two parties, naturally inclining 
towards that which seemed to be the more friendly disposed to- 
wards themselves. 

Upon the arrival of the Argonaut at San Bias, Colnett was lib- 
erated from confinement, and he proceeded to the city of Mexico, 
where he was received with kindness by the Viceroy, Count de 
Revillagigedo. The cases of the Argonaut and Princess Royal 
having been then examined, it was decided* — that the conduct of 
Martinez had been entirely conformable with the laws and ordi- 
nances of Spain, and with the terms of treaties existing between 
that kingdom and other nations, by which it is understood that 
aliens frequenting, trading, or endeavoring to establish them- 
selves "on the coasts of the South Sea in either America" shall 
be regarded and treated as enemies, without any presumable 
breach of faith on the part of Spain ; that consequently the said 
two vessels might be retained as lawful prizes ; but that, in con- 
sideration of the apparent ignorance of their owners and officers 
respecting the rights and laws of Spain, as well as for the sake of 
preserving peace and harmony with Great Britain, they should 
be released, on condition of their not entering any bay or port in 
Spanish America without pressing necessity. 

1790. In virtue of this decision, Colnett returned to San Bias, where 
he found that several of his men had died, during his absence, of 
the fever endemic on those coasts. With the remainder he 
sailed in the Argonaut to Nootka, for the purpose of reclaiming 
the Princess Royal ; but the sound had been, long before he ar- 
rived there, evacuated by Martinez and his forces, who from some 
cause, however, did not reach Mexico until after the departure 
of Colnett. From Nootka the Argonaut, having taken in a car- 
go of furs, sailed for the Sandwich Islands, where the Princess 
Royal was found lying ; Colnett there received possession of her, 
and arrived with both vessels at Macao in the latter part of 1790. 

The Columbia, under the command of Gray, reached Macao in 
December, 1789, bringing as passengers the officers and crew of 
the Northwest America, who first communicated the news of the 
seizure of the Argonaut and Princess Royal to their owners. 
The latter immediately resolved to apply to the British Govern- 
ment for redress ; and Meares accordingly departed for London, 
where he arrived in March, 1790, carrying with him various de- 
positions and other papers in substantiation of the claims. 

Meanwhile the Court of Spain, having been informed of what 
had occurred at Nootka in the summer of 1789, addressed a note 
Feb. 10. to the British ministry, stating the circumstances, and requiring 
that the parties who had planned the expeditions should be pun- 



* Vancouver's Account of his Voyages, vol. iii, page 497; Memorial of the Court 
of Spain, Annual Register for 1790. 



Ill 



[ 174] 



ished, in order to deter others from making settlements on terri- 1790. 
tories occupied and frequented by the Spaniards for a number of 

j years. The British ministers answered, that they had not re Feb. 26. 

j ceived exact information as to the facts stated by the Spanish 
Government, but that the acts of violence towards British subjects 
and property, mentioned in the communication from the latter, 

j necessarily suspended any discussion of claims which either 
party might advance to the possession of the northwest coasts of 
America, until adequate atonement should have been made for 
those outrages against the flag of Great Britain ; the answer 
was concluded by a demand for the immediate restoration of the 
vessels seized at Nootka. Simultaneously with the despatch of 

| this answer, orders were issued at London for the armament of 
two large fleets ; and the Spanish Government, taking alarm at 
this measure, caused similar preparations to be commenced in all 
the naval arsenals of the kingdom. 

Several weeks after the receipt of this answer, the Court of April. 
Madrid informed the British ministry that one of the vessels 
seized at Nootka (the Argonaut) had been released, and orders 
had been given by the Viceroy of Mexico for the restitution of 
the other, in consideration of the ignorance of their owners and 
captains with regard to the rights and laws of Spain ; that the af- 
fair might, therefore, be regarded as at an end, and that his Cath- 
olic Majesty would be satisfied if the King of England would re- 
strain his subjects from trespassing upon the Pacific coasts of 
America, to which the Crown of Spain had indubitable right, 
founded upon treaties and immemorial possession. Ere the cor - 
respondence proceeded farther, the matter had been submitted by 
the British ministry to the nation; and a fever had, in conse- 
quence, been excited throughout the kingdom, which was not to 
be easily allayed. This measure was the result of the presenta- 
tion by Meares of his Memorial, praying that reparation should be 
obtained for himself and his associates for their losses, actual and 
probable, occasioned by the seizure and detention of their vessels 
at Nootka ; the amount of which was estimated at no less a sum 
than six hundred and fifty-three thousand dollars. 

The correspondence above noticed was kept profoundly secret 
by both parties until the 5th of May, when the circumstances 
were communicated by the King of England, through a message 
addressed to Parliament. In this message, it is stated that "two May 5. 
vessels belonging to his Majesty's subjects, and navigated under 
the British flag," (meaning the Argonaut and Princess Royal,) 
" and two others," (the Iphigenia and Northwest America,) " of 
which the description is not hitherto sufficiently ascertained, have 
been captured at Nootka Sound by an officer commanding two 
Spanish ships of war; that the cargoes of the British vessels have 
been seized, and their officers and crews have been sent as pri- 
soners to a Spanish port." That, in reply to a demand for satis- 
faction, addressed to the Court of Madrid, it had been declared 
that one of the British vessels was liberated by the Viceroy of 
Mexico, "on the supposition that nothing but ignorance of the 
rights of Spain encouraged the individuals of other nations to 



[ 174] 



112 



1790. come on those coasts, for the purpose of making establishments 
May 5. or carrying on trade but that " no satisfaction was given or of- 
fered, and a direct claim was asserted by the Court of Madrid to 
the exclusive right of sovereignty, navigation, and commerce, in 
the territories, coasts, and seas of that part of the world." In 
consequence of all which, " his Majesty had directed his minis- 
ter at Madrid to make a fresh representation on the subject, and 
to claim such full and adequate satisfaction as the nature of the 
case evidently required. And under these circumstances, his 
Majesty, having also received information that considerable arma- 
ments were carrying on in the ports of Spain, had judged it ne- 
cessary to give orders for such preparations as might put it in his 
power to act with vigor and effect in support of the honor of his 
Crown and the interests of his people; and he recommended 
that Parliament would therefore enable him to take such meas- 
ures, and to make such augmentations of his forces, as might be 
eventually requisite for that purpose." 

In this message, it will be remarked that no mention is made 
of the seizure of any lands or buildings belonging to British sub- 
jects at Nootka; and it will be found, on examining the docu- 
ments attached to the memorial of Meares, that no notice of such 
possessions is contained in any of them, except in " the informa- 
tion of William Graham " one of the seamen of the Felice, taken 
at London, on the very day in which the message was read in 
Parliament, five days after the date of the memorial. It may also 
be observed, in anticipation, that the reports of the debates in 
Parliament, and the published correspondence between the two 
Governments, prior to the signature of the treaty by which the 
dispute was terminated, are equally free from allusions to any 
claims of British subjects to territories or houses on the north- 
west coast of America. 

The recommendations in the King's message were received 
with every demonstration of concurrence in Parliament, and 
throughout the British dominions ; and the supplies required 
May 5. were immediately voted. On the day in which the message was 
read, a note was addressed by the ministry to the Spanish Court, 
insisting upon immediate satisfaction for the outrages complained 
of ; and declaring that, until it were received, the question of the 
rights of Spain would not be discussed. The British represent- 
May 16. ative at Madrid also presented formal demands to the Government 
for restitution of the other vessel (the Princess Royal) seized at 
Nootka — for complete indemnification of all losses sustained by 
British subjects trading under the British flag, from the acts of 
Spanish officers on the northwest coast of America — and for " a 
distinct acknowledgment that British subjects have an indis- 
putable right to the enjoyment of free and uninterrupted com 
merce, navigation, and fishery, and to the possession of such 
establishments as they might form, with the consent of the na- 
tives, on any part of the American coasts not previously occupied 
by some European nation." 
June. To these demands, the Spanish minister, Count de Florida 
Blanca, gave an evasive reply on the 13th of June ; after having 



113 



[ 174] 



addressed a circular, protesting against them, to all the other 1790. 
Courts of continental Europe. He likewise solicited the French 
monarch to comply with the terms of the Family Compact of 
' 1761, by which the Sovereigns of France and Spain were bound 
to support each other, in cases similar to that actually existing. 
These measures, however, producing no favorable results, he was 
obliged to yield to the demand of Great Britain for indemnifica- 
tion to her subjects ; which was promised* on the 24th of July, June 24. 
with the understanding that the concession was not to affect, in 
any way, the question as to the right of his Catholic Majesty to 
form an exclusive establishment at Nootka. 

The negotiation had thus far proceeded in a course almost pre- 
cisely like that of the dispute between the same parties respecting 
the Falkland Islands, twenty years previous; and the Spanish 
minister probably expected that it would end there. But Mr. 
Pitt, who then directed the affairs of Great Britain, had ulterior 
objects in view, which induced him to persist in his exactions 
relative to the unoccupied coasts of America ; and as na^al arma- 
ments on the most extensive scale were in progress of equipment 
in both countries, a rupture of the peace between them was daily 
anticipated. 

In the mean time, the National Assembly of France was de- Aug, 
liberating upon the solicitation for aid addressed by Charles IY. 
of Spain to his cousin, Louis XVI., which had been referred by 
the latter to that body, then all-powerful in his kingdom. The 

, resolutions,! finally adopted in the Assembly, as proposed by the Aug. 26 
celebrated Mirabeau, were very vague with regard to Spain, while 
they were very clear and positive as to the necessity of immedi- 
ately arming a vast naval force for the security of the French do- 
minions. That these resolutions must have materially affected 
the nature of the negotiation between the Courts of London and 
Madrid there can be no doubt, although no means have been as 
yet afforded of learning in what manner and to what precise 
extent. It, however, appears probable that the warlike attitude 
assumed by the National Assembly, together with the rapid ad- 
vance of revolutionary anti-monarchical principles at the same 
period, rendered the disputing parties willing to compromise their 
differences, in order that they might, if there should be need, act 
in unison against their dangerous neighbor. Possibly, indeed, 

I the exactions of the British minister were, from the commence- 
ment, intended for no other purpose than to secure such co-oper- 

I ation. Certain it is, that the conditions subscribed by the two 
Powers, at the conclusion of their dispute, were far less onerous Oct. 28. 
or humiliating to Spain, than those upon which the Court of Lon- 
don had at first announced its determination to insist. 



* See declaration, by Count de Florida Blanca, and counter -declaration, by Mr. 
Fitzherbert, the British envoy at Madrid, in the Annual Register for 1790, pa°e 300. 
It may be here mentioned, that the amount payable by Spain as indemnification 
i was finally settled in February, 1793, by agreement between the comm ssioners of 
the two Governments, at two hundred and ten thousand dollars. See Macpherson's 
Annals of Commerce, vol. iv, page 209. 

t See Annual Register for 1790, page 303. The resolutions in the original, and 
the interesting debates in the Assembly, may be found in the Moniteur. 



( 174 ] 



114 



1790. The conditions above mentioned are contained in a treaty, 
signed at the Palace of San Lorenzo, or the Escurial, in Spain, 
on the 28th of October, 1790, and ratified on the 22d of the fol- 
lowing month ; of which it will be proper here to insert all the ar- 
ticles without variation from the original text. # 

"Article 1. The buildings and tracts of land situated on the 
northwest coast of the continent of North America, or on the 
islands adjacent to that continent, of which the subjects of his 
Britannic Majesty were dispossessed about the month of April, 
1789, by a Spanish officer, shall be restored to the said British 
subjects. 

"Art. 2. A just reparation shall be made, according to the na- 
ture of the case, for all acts of violence or hostility which may 
have been committed subsequent to the month of April, 1789, by 
the subjects of either of the contracting parties against the sub- 
jects of the other ; and, in case any of the said respective subjects 
shall, since the same period, have been forcibly dispossessed of 
their lands, buildings, vessels, merchandise, and other property, 
whatever, on the said continent, or on the seas and islands adja- 
cent, they shall be re-established in the possession thereof, or a 
just compensation shall be made to them for the losses which 
they have sustained. 

"Art. 3. In order to strengthen the bonds of frrendship, and 
to preserve in future a perfect harmony and good understanding, 
between the two contracting parties, it is agreed that their re- 
spective subjects shall not be disturbed or molested, either in 
navigating, or carrying on their fisheries, in the Pacific Ocean or 
in the South Seas, or in landing on the coasts of those seas in 
places not already occupied, for the purpose of carrying on their 
commerce with the natives of the country, or of making settle- 
ments there ; the whole subject, nevertheless, to the restrictions 
specified in the three following articles. 

"Art. 4. His Britannic Majesty engages to take the most ef-. 
fectual measures to prevent the navigation and the fishery of his 
subjects in the Pacific Ocean or in the South Seas from being 
made a pretext for illicit trade with the Spanish settlements • and, 
with this view, it is moreover expressly stipulated that British 
subjects shall not navigate, or carry on their fishery, in the said 
seas, within the space of ten sea-ieag^ues from any part of the 
coasts already occupied by Spain. 

"Art. 5. As well in the places which are to be restored to 
the British subjects, by virtue of the first article, as in all other 
parts of the northwestern coasts of North America, or of the 
islands adjacent, situate to the north of the parts of the said coast 
already occupied by Spain, wherever the subjects of either of the 
two Powers shall have made settlements since the month of 
April, 1789, or shall hereafter make any, the subjects of the other 
shall have free access, and shall carry on their trade without any 
disturbance or molestation. 



* See Annual Register for 1790, page 304; Parliamentary History for same year, 
page 916 ; Hersilett's Collection of British Treaties, vol. ii, page 257. 



115 



[174 J 



"Art. 6. With respect to the eastern and western coasts of 1790. 
South America, and to the islands adjacent, no settlement shall 
>be formed hereafter, by the respective subjects, in such part of 
Ithose coasts as are situated to the south of those parts of the same 
coasts, and of the islands adjacent, which are already occupied 
! !by Spain : provided that the said respective subjects shall re- 
tain the liberty of landing on the coasts and islands so situated, 
| for the purposes of their fishery, and of erecting thereon huts 
and other temporary buildings, serving only for those purposes. 

" Art. 7. In all cases of complaint or infraction of the articles 
iof the present convention, the officers of either party, without 
i permitting themselves previously to commit any violence or act 
of force, shall be bound to make an exact report of the affair, and 
Iof its circumstances, to their respective Courts, who will termi- 
nate such differences in an amicable manner. 

"Art. 8. The present convention shall be ratified and con- 
firmed in the space of six weeks, to be computed from the day 
of its signature, or sooner if it can be done." 

This treaty was submitted to Parliament by Mr. Pitt on the 
(3d of December, and became the subject of discussion in both Dec. 3. 
Houses. By the friends of the ministry it was extolled and de- 
fended in general terms, as vindicating the honor of the na- 
tion, as securing reparation for injuries committed against British 
i subjects, and as affording important advantages to them in fu- 
'■ ture, by opening the navigation of the Pacific and South Seas, 
hand establishing the question of the southern fisheries on such 
grounds as must prevent all dispute. The opposition, on the other 
hand, contended that the advantages derivable from it were in no 
■ respect commensurate with the costs at which it had been ob- 
tained ; nay, it was insisted by Fox, Grey, Lansdowne, and other 
: ' eminent whigs, that the rights of British subjects had been mate- 
rially abridged by the new stipulations. They observed that, 
whereas the British formerly possessed the right, " whether admit 
ted or contested by Spain was of no consequence" to navigate and 
fish in any part of the Pacific or South Seas, and " to settle wher- 
j iever the subjects of no other civilized nation had previously settled" 
i | they were by this treaty prohibited from going nearer than thirty 

I miles to a Spanish territory, and from establishing themselves 

! , on a large portion of South America, as well as from forming any 

I I permanent or useful settlement on the northwest coast of the 
j northern continent. a In everyplace in which we might set- 
I tie," said Grey, "access was left for the Spaniards. Where we 
; might form a settlement on one hill, they might erect a fort upon 
i another. A merchant must run all the risks of a discovery, and 
, all the expenses of establishment, for a property, which was lia- 
| ble to be the subject of continual dispute, and which could never 
| be placed upon a permanent footing." Mr. Fox denied "that 
' the southern whale fishery was of the great importance it was 
j: stated to be," and declared that it was mere "dross" in compari- 
I son with what had been renounced in order to obtain it. " To 

j remove all possibility," said that gentleman, " of our ever form- 
1 ing a settlement to the south of her American colonies, was an 



[ 174] 



116 



1790. object for which Spain would have been willing to pay a liberal 
price." Of the truth of this assertion, there was sufficient proof 
in the efforts made by the Government of Spain to prevent other 
nations from planting colonies in the Falkland Islands ; from 
which islands, it may be remarked, both parties to the conven- 
tion appear to have been excluded by the terms of the sixth ar- 
ticle. 

It was also noticed by Mr. Fox, as a curious and inexplicable 
incongruity in the treaty, that " about the month of April, 1789," 
should have been inserted as the date of what was known to 
have taken place, agreeably to all the evidence produced, in May 
of the same year; and that although, by the first article, the 
lands and buildings declared to have been taken from British 
subjects by a Spanish officer " about the month of April, 1789," 
were to be restored, yet, by the second article, the lands, build- 
ings, and other property, of which the subjects of either party 
had been dispossessed " subsequent to the month of April, 1789," 
were to be restored, or compensation was to be made to the own- 
ers for the losses which they might have sustained. Now, as the 
Spaniards did not arrive upon the northwest coast of America 
until May, 1789, it is clear that their Government might, at its 
own option, either restore the lands and buildings claimed by 
British subjects, or make compensation for the loss of them to 
their owners. 

Upon this point it will be seen, that if the word or in the con- 
cluding part of the second article were replaced by and, the in- 
congruity would disappear ; but then, also, the first article would 
become entirely superfluous. It would, however, be idle to sup- 
pose that any error could have been committed, with regard to 
matters so essential, or that the want of accordance between the 
different provisions of the convention, noticed by Mr. Fox, should 
have been the result of accident or carelessness. The ministers, 
when pressed for explanations on this head, answered indirectly 
that the Spanish Government would make the restitutions as 
agreed in the first article ; to the other objections raised against 
the convention, they gave only general or evasive replies. By 
means of their majorities in both Houses of Parliament, which 
were so great as to render any expenditure of argument unne- 
cessary, they negatived every call for papers relative to the nego- 
tiation ; and, having triumphantly carried their address of thanks 
to the Sovereign, they were left at liberty to execute the new 
stipulations agreeably to their own constructions, for which am- 
ple space had been certainly provided.* 



* An analysis of the convention will be found in the ninth chapter of this memoir, 
among the observations on the Florida Treaty. 



117 



[174] 



CHAPTER VII. 

Execution of the first article of the treaty of 1790, between Great Britain and Spain — 
Surrender of Nootka to the British — Voyages and discoveries of the Spanish nav- 
igators, Fidalgo, Malaspina, Caamano, Galiano, and Valdes; of Billings, in the 
service of Russia ; of Marchand; of Vancouver; and of the American fur-traders, 
Ingraham, Gray, and Kendrick — Discovery of the mouth of the Columbia, by 
Gray — Examination of the Strait of Fuca, and of the great Northwest Archipel- 
ago — Formation of the Nonhwest Fur-trading Company — Expeditions of Rod- 
man and Mackenzie through the interior of the North American continent. 

The convention of 1790 having been thus concluded, the Brit- 1791. 
ish Government prepared immediately to assume possession of 
the lands and buildings on the northwest coast of America, which 
were to be surrendered by Spain agreeably to the first article. 
For this purpose, it was determined that two frigates should be 
sent to Nootka, under the command of Captain Trowbridge ; the 
ministry, however, afterwards committed the business to Captain 
George Vancouver, who had been one of Cook's lieutenants, and 
who was then about to sail to the Pacific with two ships, on a 
voyage of discovery. There were, doubtless, some difficulties 
between the parties to the convention respecting this surrender, 
for the order of the Spanish Minister of State to that effect was 
not delivered at Madrid until the 12th of May, 1791, more than May 12. 
a month after the departure of Vancouver, to whom it was des - 
patched by a store-ship. The order was addressed to the Com- 
mandant of the port of San Lorenzo, of Nootka, directing him 
" to deliver to his Britannic Majesty's commissioner the build- 
ings and tracts of land which were occupied by the subjects of 
that Sovereign in April, 1789, as well those in the port of Nootka, 
as also those in the other, called Port Cox, said to be situated 
about sixteen leagues further south ward." # The same order was 
communicated, with the convention, to the Viceroy of Mexico, 
who was charged with its execution on the part of Spain; but it 
does not appear that any means were afforded to the commission- 
ers, by either of the Governments, for ascertaining precisely what 
lands or buildings were to be surrendered. 

Vancouver was instructed to proceed directly to Nootka, and, 
after having completed the business of the transfer there, to com- 
mence the examination of the American coasts included between 
the 35th and the 60th parallels of north latitude. The objects of 
these researches were especially to acquire accurate information 
with regard to the nature and extent of any water communica- 
tion, which might tend to facilitate commercial intercourse be- 
tween the northwest coasts and the territories on the opposite 



* Introduction to the Journal of Vancouver's Voyage. 

9 



[ 174] 



118 



1791. side of the continent, inhabited or occupied by British subjects, 
and to ascertain with precision the number, extent, and situation 
of any settlements made by civilized nations within those limits. 
He was directed particularly " to explore the supposed Straits of 
Fuca, said to be situated between the 48th and 49th degrees of 
latitude, through which the American sloop Washington was re- 
ported to have passed in 1789, and to have come out again north 
of Nootka;" after which, he was, if there should be time sufficient, 
to survey the Sandwich Islands and the southernmost coasts of 
America. With these instructions, Vancouver sailed from Eng- 
land on the 1st of April, 1791, and just a year afterwards he ar- 
rived on the northwest coast, in sight of Cape Mendocino. 

1790. In the mean time, Nootka had been again occupied by Span- 
Mar. 4. forces, which were sent for that purpose from Mexico, in the 

spring of 1790, under the command of Don Francisco Elisa; and 
Spanish navigators were again exploring the northwest coasts of 
America, in order to observe the proceedings of the Russians, and 
also to determine the question as to the practicability of a north- 
ern voyage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. That ques- 
tion was then exciting considerable attention in Europe, where 
every thing relating to it was carefully studied, and the old stories 
of the discovery of northern passages were dragged forth from ob- 
scurity, and subjected to critical analyses, by scientific individu- 
als and commissions. Three of these stories, of which Maldonado, 
Fuca, and Fonte, were severally the heroes,xWere pronounced, 
after such trials, to be not wholly destitute of probability; and 
the commanders of all the expeditions to the north Pacific were 
instructed to endeavor to ascertain how far each statement might 
be confirmed or disproved. 

The Spaniards were, indeed, beginning seriously to direct their 
efforts to the security of their dominions northwest of Mexico ; 
and with this view, a special branch of the administration in that 
kingdom had been created, under the title of the Marine Depart- 
ment of San Bias, which was charged with superintending and 
fostering the establishments on the coasts of the north Pacific. 
The port of San Bias in Mexico, situated near the entrance of the 
Californian Gulf, was made the centre of the operations for these 
purposes; arsenals, ship-yards, and warehouses were construct- 
ed at that place ; all expeditions for the northern coasts were made 
from it; and all orders relative to the abovementioned objects 
passed through the chief of the department, who resided there. 

Of the voyage of Lieutenant Salvador Fidalgo to the northern- 
most coasts of the Pacific, in the summer of 1790, it is unneces- 
sary here to present the details. The geographical information 
obtained by him was of little value, although he thought proper 
to affix Spanish names to a number of points between Mount St. 
Elias and Cook's Inlet, nearly all of which had been long before 
known and described. 

1791. Those coasts were in the following year more minutely exam- 
June 23 ined by Captain Alexandro Malaspina, in the course of his voy- 

^° 13 age around the world, with the Spanish corvettes Atrevida and 
ug ° ' Descubierta under his command. He, however, made no dis- 



119 



[ 174] 



coveries worthy of mention at present, and he effected nothing 1791 
of greater importance than the determination of the positions of 
some places already known. Navarrete, in his Introduction to 
the Journal of the Sutil and Mexicana, gives a long account of 
this expedition, and bestows the utmost praise on those who con- 
ducted it ; yet, will it be believed that the name of Malaspina 
does not appear in that work ? Such is, nevertheless, the fact. 
The unfortunate navigator, an Italian by birth, having fallen 
under the displeasure of the Spanish Government, or rather of 
Godoy, was arrested immediately after his return to Europe, in 
1T94, and was for seven years kept closely confined in a dungeon 
at Corunna. Navarrete, writing under the eye of that Govern- 
ment, and for its purposes, did not dare inscribe on his pages the 
name of the unhappy victim of its injustice. 

While Malaspina was thus engaged on the coasts north of Noot- 
ka, Elisa, the commandant of that port, endeavored to explore the 
Strait of Fuca; he, however, penetrated only a few leagues with- 
in' it, and was then forced to return by the appearance of scurvy 
among his crew. One of his lieutenants, Quimper, had previous- 
ly attempted, with little better success, to trace this passage to its 
termination ; from the slight account given of his voyage by 
Navarrete, it appears that he examined the whole southern shore, 
at the eastern extremity of which he discovered a harbor called 
by him Port Quadra, probably the same afterwards named Port 
Discovery by Vancouver, 

The visit made to the northwest coast of America, in 1791, by August 
Captain Etienne Marchand, in the French merchant ship Solide, and 
is here mentioned, only because the Introduction, by Fleurieu, to ept ' 
the Journal of his Voyage, has been already several times quoted. 
Marchand landed on one of the islands of the group now called 
King George the Third's Archipelago, near Mount San Jacinto 
or Edgecumb, and remained there a fortnight engaged in trading 
with the natives ; after which, he sailed along the coasts south- 
ward to the entrance of Clyoquot bay, a little east of Nootka, oc- Sept. 7. 
casionally landing and making observations, and thence took his 
departure for China. Respecting the places thus seen, or any 
other places, indeed, very little information is to be obtained 
from this journal, although hundreds of its pages are devoted to 
philosophical speculations on the origin and capabilities of the 
northwest Americans, their languages, and political and religious 
institutions, and on languages and institutions in general. 

In the course of this year, also, no less than seven vessels from 
the United States arrived in the north Pacific, in search of furs. 
Among them were the ship Columbia, which returned from Bos- 
ton under Captain Gray, and the brig Hope, commanded by Jo- 
seph Ingraham, the former mate of the Columbia.* The Journal 
of Captain Ingraham, to which reference has been so often made, 
contains minute accounts of occurrences and observations, which 



* The others were, the Washington, Captain Kendrick, which had remained in 
the Pacific since 1788; the Eleonora, Captain Metcalf; the Margaret, Captain Ma- 
gee; the Hancock, Captain Crowell; and the Jefferson, Captain Roberts. 



[174] 



120 



1791. are recorded in a clear and simple manner; and it is illustrated 
by many charts and drawings, all serving to prove that the world 
is indebted to the efforts of the American fur-traders for much 
information relative to the northwest coasts, which is usually sup- 
posed to have been procured originally by the British and Span- 
ish navigators. Of Captain Gray's second voyage to the Pacific, 
we know but little ; that little, however, comes from authentic 
sources, and is worthy of being carefully preserved. 

Ingraham sailed from Boston on the 16th of September, 1790; 
in January following he doubled Cape Horn, after stopping at So- 
ledad or Port Egmont, in the Falkland Islands, where he found 
a Spanish garrison ; and, in April, he discovered the group of six 
small islands, situated nearly in the centre of the Pacific, which 
are now called the Washington Islands by all geographers except 
May 20. the British. On the 20th of May the Hope reached Owyhee, 
and on the 29th of June she was anchored in a harbor on the 
southwest side of Queen Charlotte's Island, to which Ingraham 
gave the name of Magee's Sound. About this island, and the 
coasts of the continent immediately east of it, he remained du- 
ring the whole summer ; and having collected a large cargo of 
furs, he carried them to Canton in the autumn. 

The Columbia quitted Boston on the 27th of September, 1790, 
May. and in May of the ensuing year she reached the northwest coast 
of America, a little northward of Cape Mendocino. Sailing along 
the coast towards Nootka, Captain Gray observed an opening, in 
the latitude of 46 degrees 16 minutes, from which issued a current 
so strong as to prevent his entrance, although he remained nine 
days in its vicinity endeavoring to effect that object. Being at 
length fully convinced that he had discovered the mouth of a 
great river, he continued his course towards the north, and on 
the 5th of June arrived in the harbor of Clyoquot, near Nootka. 

From this place the Columbia soon sailed for Queen Charlotte's 
Island, near which she fell in with the Hope, on the 23d of July. 
On the 15th of August she entered an inlet under the parallel of 
54J degrees, up which she proceeded more than eighty miles 
towards the northeast ; the passage was found to be wide and 
deep throughout this whole distance, and appeared to extend 
much farther in the same direction. Gray, however, was unable 
to pursue the examination of it, and returned with the persuasion 
that he had discovered the Rio de los Reyes, through which Ad- 
miral Fonte was said to have sailed on his way to the Atlantic, 
in 1640. The passage is that now called the Portland Canal. On 
Sept. leaving it, the Columbia returned to Clyoquot, at the entrance of 
which she met the French ship Solide, commanded by Captain 
Marchand, just as the latter was shaping her course for China. 
Here Gray and his crew passed the winter in a fortified habita- 
tion on the shore, to which he gave the name of Fort Defiance, 
Here, also, he built and launched a schooner, called the Enter- 
prise, the first vessel constructed on the northwest side of the 
continent by citizens of the United States. While remaining at 
this place, " Wiccannish, the chief of that district, had concerted 
a plan to capture his ship, by bribing a native of Owyhee, whom 



121 



[ 174] 



Gray had with him, to wet the priming of all the fire-arms on 1791. 
board, which were constantly kept loaded ; upon which the chief 
would easily have overpowered the ship's crew by a number of 
daring Indians assembled for the purpose. This project was 
happily discovered ; and the Americans being on their guard, the 
fatal effects of the plan were prevented. " # 

Captain John Kendrick, who commanded the Columbia in her 
first voyage to the Pacific, had remained in that ocean with the 
sloop Washington since 1789. In August of 1791, while lying August, 
in Nootka Sound, he had reason to suspect that the Spaniards 
would seize his vessel, in case he should endeavor to proceed to 
sea; and under this impression, he determined to make his way, 
if possible, through a passage which he believed to exist, from 
the extremity of the harbor northwestward into the Pacific. His 
effort proved successful ; and he bestowed upon the channel thus 
found the name of Massachusetts Sound. This passage, called 
by the natives Ahasset, is not laid down upon Vancouver's maps ; 
an account of it, however, appears in the Journal of the Sutil and 
Mexicana, where it is called the Passage of Buena Esperanza, 
and its discovery is attributed to the officers of Malaspina's ships, 
who surveyed it in the latter part of the same month, after Kend- 
rick had passed through it. 

About the same time, Kendrick purchased from Maquinna, 
Wiccannish, and other chiefs, several large tracts of landj near 
INootka Sound, for which he afterwards exhibited deeds signed, 
or rather marked, by the savages, and witnessed by many of the 
officers and crew of the Washington. These deeds were authen- 
ticated by a notary at Macao ; and attempts were made at Lon- 
don, in 1795, to sell the lands supposed to have been thus legally 
acquired. So lately, indeed, as 1838, a memorial was presented 
to the Congress of the United States by the representatives of the 
owners and captain of the Washington, praying that their title to 
these territories might be confirmed or purchased by the Govern - 



* Vancouver's Journal, vol. i. page 235. 

t The purchase of these lauds is mentioned by Wadstrom, in his work on Colo- 
nization, published at London in 1705; and by Maepherson, in his Annals of Com- 
merce. The circ r alar issued by Messrs. Barrell & Co., in 1795, (of which one of the 
originals is now before the writer.) is a curious document; it is in four languages, 
and is couched in terms the most unspecific which could have been chosen. The 
inhabitants of Euro-pe are informed that, "in 1787, Capiain J. Kendrick, while pros- 
ecuting an advantageous voyage with the natives for furs, purchased of them, for 
ihe owners, a tract of delightful country comprehending four degrees or latitude, or 
240 miles square-.' 5 and " that such as may be inclined to associate for settling a com- 
mon wealth, on their own code of laws, on a spot of t're °dobe nowhere surpassed in 
delightful and healthy climate and fertile soil, claimed by no civilized nation, and 
purchased under a sacred treaty of peace and commerce, and for a valuable consid- 
eration, of the friendly natives, may have. the best opportunity of trying the result of 
such an enterprise.' 5 Where these four degrees of latitude, or 240 miles square, are 
situated, is no otherwise stated than that ihey are in America. The deeds for the 
lands are declared in the circular to have been registered in the office of the Ameri- 
can consul in China. These deeds, or some of them, which have been recently pub- 
lished, relate only to the territories about Nootka and Clyoqnot; and although they 
embrace the whole of the dominions of Maquinna and Wiccannish, they do not 
amount to one twenty-fourth part of "240 miles square. Moreover, the whole island 
in which those territories are situated extends through onlv two and a half degrees 
of latitude; so that other lands must have been purchased by Kendrick. 



I 174 ] 



122 



1791. ment ; and the same claim is now being urged before Congress, 
That the transactions here described between Kendrick and the 
savage chiefs did really take place, there is no reason to doubt ; 
it is, however, scarcely probable that the validity of the purchases 
will ever be recognised by the civilized nation which may here- 
after possess the country adjacent to Nootka Sound. 

After purchasing these lands, Kendrick sailed to the Sandwich 
Islands, and there engaged in a new branch of commerce, of 
which he was the originator. It was the collection and trans- 
portation to China of the odoriferous wood called sandal, which 
grows in all the islands of the centre of the Pacific, and is in 
great demand throughout the Celestial Empire. Vancouver con- 
sidered the scheme chimerical; the result, however, has proved 
that it was founded on just calculations, as the trade thus opened 
has ever since been prosecuted, and at the present day affords 
employment to many vessels. Kendrick did not live longr to 
profit by it ; he was killed at Owyhee, in 1793, by the natives. 

179a. The Russians likewise endeavored, at this time, to carry into 
effect their long contemplated voyage of discovery through the 
north Pacific. After four years of preparations, one of the ships, 
built for the purpose at Petro -Paulo wsk, sailed from that place in 
May, 1790, under Captain Joseph Billings, an Englishman, who 
had accompanied Cook in his last voyage, an el had been engaged 
by the Empress to direct this expedition. Billings advanced no 
farther than the vicinity of Mount Saint Elias, which he reached 
in the latter part of July ; there his provisions began to fail, and 
he was in consequence obliged to return to Kamschatka. In the 

1791. following year, two vessels were sent from Petro -Paulo wsk, with 
the same objects, under Captains Hall and Saretschef ; neither of 
which proceeded beyond Unalashka. A melancholy picture of 
the sufferings experienced in these vessels has been presented by 
Martin Sauer, a German, who acted as secretary to the expedi- 
tion, in his narrative published ten years afterwards. Another 
account of these voyages has been given by Saretscheff, who im- 
putes the failure of the undertaking to the incapacity of Billings. 

1792. In 1792, many discoveries were made on the northwest coasts 
of America by the British, the Spaniards, and the citizens of the 
United States. 

May 13. In the spring of that year Captain Jacinto Caamano, com- 
manding the corvette Aranzazu, and Lieutenants Dionisio Alcala 
Galiano and Cayetano Yaldes, with the small sloops Sutil and 
Mexicana, arrived at Nootka from Mexico, with orders to exam- 
ine certain parts of the coast which had not been visited by Mal- 
aspina. Galiano and Valdes soon after departed together for the 
Strait of Fuca, of which their survey will be hereafter described ; 
while Caamano proceeded to examine the numerous openings in 
the land, which had been observed immediately north and north- 
east of Qtueen Charlotte's Island. 

May 23 In the discharge of this duty, Caamano displayed great skill 
t0 and activity, as appears from the account of his voyage* given by 



* Introduction to the Journal of the Sutil and Mexicana, page 123. 



123 



[ 174] 



Navarre te, and as indirectly testified by Vancouver. Without 1792. 
presenting the details of his researches, suffice it to say that he 
explored many of the bays and intricate channels which lie be- 
tween the 52d and the 56th parallels of latitude, and minutely 
surveyed the northern side of Queen Charlotte's Island. Some 
of these channels were traced by him to their terminations in the 
land; others being ascertained to be straits, separating islands 
from each other and from the continent. From his observations, 
added to those of the fur -traders and of the natives, little doubt 
was left of the existence of many other islands in that part of the 
Pacific, occupying the position assigned to the Archipelago of 
San Lazaro, in the story of Admiral Fonte's voyage. 

It should be observed, however, with regard to the accounts of 
Caamano's expedition, that several of the places visited and 
named by him had been surveyed in the preceding year, by the 
fur-traders of the United States, who had also bestowed appella- 
tions upon them. Thus the ports of Estrada and Mazaredo, on 
the northern shore of Queen Charlotte's Island, were already fa- 
miliarly known to the Americans frequenting those coasts as 
Hancocks river and Craftfs Sound. Ingraham has inserted 
charts and descriptions of both harbors in his journal, where he 
pronounces Hancock's river to be better adapted for a settlement 
than any other place on the northwest side of America. 

An attempt was likewise, about this time, made by the Span- 
iards to form a settlement on the southern side of the Strait of 
Fuca, near its mouth, at a place to which they gave the name of 
Port Nunez Gaona ; but they were soon obliged to abandon it, 
in consequence of the insecurity of the anchorage and the diffi- 
culty of obtaining provisions. This place and Nootka Sound 
were the only spots north of Port San Francisco on which any 
establishment was formed or attempted by the Spaniards ; and, 
as each settlement was founded after the month of April, 1789, 
Port San Francisco, in the latitude of 37 degrees 49 minutes, be- 
came, by virtue of the fifth article of the convention of 1790, the 
northern limit of the section of the American coast exclusively 
belonging to Spain. 

In the middle of April Captain Vancouver arrived on the coast, April 18. 
near Cape Mendocino, with his two ships, the Discovery, com- 
manded by himself, and the Chatham, by Lieutenant William 
Broughton. Proceeding northward along the shore of the conti- 
nent, he carefully observed the part near the 43d degree of lati- 
tude, where Martin de Aguilar was said to have found a large 
river in 1603, and that near the 46th, where an opening was laid 
down on the Spanish charts, bearing the names of Rio de San 
Roque and Entrada de Heceta. Under the parallel of 42 degrees 
and 52 minutes ho passed a promontory, which he ungenerously 
called Cape Orford, although it corresponds precisely in situa- 
tion with the Cape Blanco of Aguilar ; the river* which that navi- 



* The Umqua and the Klamet, which enter the ocean near the position assigned 
by Torquemada to the mouth of Aguilar's river, are both inconsiderable streams. 



[174] 



124 



1792. gator was supposed to have seen could not be found by the En- 
glish, and there is now little doubt that the account of its dis- 
covery, given by Torquemada, is erroneous. 

Vancouver was equally convinced that no great stream entered 
the Pacific in the position assigned to the mouth of the San 
Roque ; in describing his search for it he says, (vol. i,page 209:) 

April 27. " On the 27th of April, noon brought us up with a very con- 
spicuous point of land, composed of a cluster of hummocks, 
moderately high and projecting into the sea. On the south 
side of this promontory was the appearance of an inlet or small 
river, the land not indicating it to be of any great extent ; nor 
did it seem accessible for vessels of our burthen, as the break- 
ers extended from the above point two or three miles into the 
ocean, until they joined those on the beach nearly four leagues 
farther south. On reference to Mr. Meares's description # of the 
coast south of this promontory, I was at first induced to believe 
. it was Cape Shoalwater ; but, on ascertaining its latitude, I pre- 
sumed it to be that which he calls Cape Disappointment, and 
the opening south of it Deception Bay. This cape was found 
to be in latitude 46 degrees 19 minutes, longitude 236 degrees 6 
minutes. The sea had now changed from its natural to river- 
colored water, the probable consequence of some streams falling 
into the bay, or into the ocean north of it, through the low land. 
Not considering this opening worthy of more attention, I contin- 
ued our pursuit to the northwest, being desirous to embrace the 
advantages of the now prevailing breeze and pleasant weather, so 
favorable to an examination of the coasts." 

April 29. He accordingly sailed, onwards, and, on the afternoon of the 
next day but one, he met at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca 
the American ship Columbia, which had just quitted her winter- 
ing place at Clyoquot; her captain, Gray, informed the English 
" of his havingf entered an inlet to the northward, in latitude of 
541 degrees, in which he had sailed to the latitude of 56 without 
discovering its termination;" and, also, of "his having been off 
the mouth of a river, in the latitude of 46 degrees 10 minutes, 
where the outset, or reflux, was so strong as to prevent his enter- 
ing for nine days. This was probably," continues Vancouver, 
u the opening passed by us on the forenoon of the 27th, and was 
apparently inaccessible, not from the current, but from the break - 

April 30. ers that extend across "it." On the following day, after parting 
with the Columbia, he writes in his journal : " We have now ex- 
plored a part of the American continent, extending nearly two 
hundred and fifteen leagues, under the most fortunate and favora- 
ble circumstances of ivind and weather. So minutely has this ex- 
tensive coast been inspected, that the surf has been constantly seen 
to break on its shores, from the mast-head ; and it was but in a 
few small intervals only where our distance precluded its being 
visible from the deck. It must be considered as a very singular 



* See Meares's Journal, page 167; and page 93 of this memoir, 
t Vancouver's Journal, vol. i, page 21?. 



125 



[ 174] 



circumstance, that, in so great an extent of sea-coast, we should 1792. 
not until now have seen the appearance of any opening in its Ma y- 

j shores, which presented any certain prospect of affording shelter; 
the whole coast forming one compact, solid, and nearly straight 
barrier against the sea. The river mentioned by Mr. Gray should, 
from the latitude he assigned to it, have existence in the bay 
south of Cape Disappointment. This we passed in the forenoon 

| of the 27th ; and, as I then observed, if any inlet or river should 
be found, it must be a very intricate one, and inaccessible to ves- 
sels of our burthen, oiving to the reefs and broken water, which 
then appeared in its neighborhood. Mr. Gray stated that he had 
been several days attempting to enter it, which at length he was 
unable to effect, in consequence of a very strong outset. This 
is a phenomenon difficult to account for, as in most cases, where 
there are outsets of such strength on a sea-coast, there are corres- 
ponding tides setting in. Be that, however, as it may, I was tho- 
roughly convinced, as were also most persons of observation on 
board, that loe could not possibly have passed any safe navigable 

I opening, harbor, or place of security for shipping, on this coast, 
from Cape Mendocino to the promontory of Classet, [Cape Flatte- 
ry, at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca;] nor had we any reason 
to alter our opinions, notwithstanding that theoretical geographers 
have thought proper to assert in that space the existence of arms 
of the ocean communicating with a mediterranean sea, and ex- 
tensive rivers with safe and convenient ports." 

From the above extracts, it is evident that Captain Vancouver 

j placed no reliance on the correctness of Gray's account of the 
discovery of a great river immediately south of Cape Disappoint- 
ment; being satisfied, from his own observations, that no such 
stream emptied into the ocean, and that no harbor or place of se- 
curity for shipping would be found between Cape Mendocino 
and the Strait of Fuca. The British commander was, moreover, 
as his work abundantly shows, always disinclined to regard with 
credit or favor any thing which might be calculated to advance 
the reputation or interests of the people of the United States. 
Under these impressions, he commenced his survey of the Strait 
of Fuca ; while Gray, confident that he had not been mistaken, 
was on his way to the mouth of the great river, which he re- 
solved, if possible, to enter with his ship. 

While proceeding* southward along the coast, after parting 



* Extract from the log-book of the ship Columbia, Captain Robert Gray, taken from 
the original by Charles Bulfinch, one of the owners of the Columbia. 

May 7, 1792, a. m. — Being within six miles of the land, saw an entrance in the 
same, which had a very good appearance of a harbor; lowered away the jolly-boat, 
and went in search of an anchoring place, the ship standing to and fro, with a very 
strong weather-current. At 1 p. m. the boat returned, having found no place where 
the ship could anchor with safety ; made sail on the ship ; stood in for the shore. 
We soon saw, from our mast-head, a passage in between the sand bars. At half- 
past 3, bore away, and run in northeast by-east, having from four to eight fathoms, 
sandy bottom ; and, as we drew in nearer' between the bars, had from ten to thirteen 
fathoms, having a very strong tide of ebb to stem. Many canoes came alongside. 
At 5 p. m. came to in five fathoms water, sandy bottom, in a safe harbor, well shel- 

If i ' 



[174] 



126 



1792. with Vancouver, the captain of the Columbia found and en- 
May 7. tered, on the 7th of May, a harbor near the 47th degree, which 
he pronounces to be " safe, and well sheltered from the sea 
by long sand-bars and spits." Here he remained four days, 
and, on leaving the place, he bestowed on it the name of 
Bill/inch's Harbor, in compliment to one of the owners of the 
ship. It is generally distinguished on maps by the appellation 
of Gray's Harbor; Arrowsmith and other British geographers, 
with their usual injustice towards citizens of the United States, 
call it Whidbey's Harbor, because it was afterwards, as will be 
shown, surveyed by Lieutenant Whidbey, the commander of one 
of Vancouver's vessels. 
May n. From Bulfinch's Harbor the Columbia departed on the 11th, 
and, after a few hours sail, she arrived opposite the Deception 
Bay of Meares, immediately south of his Cape Disappointment. 



tered from the sea by long sand-bars and spits. Our latitude, observed this day, 
was 46 degrees 58 minutes north. 

May 10. — Fresh breezes and pleasant weather; many natives alongside x at noon, 
all the canoes left us. At 1 p. m. began to unmoor, took up the best bower-anchor, 
and hove short on the small bower-anchor. At half-past 4, (being high water,) hove 
up the anchor, and came to sail and a beating down the harbor. 

May 11. — At half-past 7 we were out clear of the bars, and directed our course to 
the southward, along shore. At 8 p. m. the entrance of Bulfinch's harbor bore north, 
distance four miles ; the southern extremity of the land bore south-southeast half 
east, and the northern north-northwest ; sent up the main top-gallant yard and set 
all sail. At 4 a. m. saw the entrance of our desired port bearing east-southeast, dis- 
tance six leagues; in steering sails, and hauled our wind in shore. At 8 a. m., be- 
ing a little to windward of the entrance of the harbor, bore away, and run in east- 
northeast between the breakers, having from five to seven fathoms of water. When 
we were over the bar, we found this to be a large river of fresh water, up which we 
steered Many canoes came alongside. At 1 p. m. came to with the small bower, 
in ten fathoms, black and white sand. The entrance between the bars bore west- 
southwest, distant ten miles; the north side of the river a hali mile distant from the 
ship; the south side of the same two and a half miles distance; a village on the 
north side of the river west-by-north, distant three-quarters of a mile. Vast num- 
bers of natives came alongside ; people employed in pumping the salt water out of 
our water-casks, in order to fill with fresh, while the ship floated in. So ends. 

May 12. — Many natives alongside; noon, fresh wind; let go the best bower-an- 
chor, and veered out on both cables; sent down the main top gallant yard; filled 
up all the water-casks in the hold. The latter part, heavy gales and rainy dirty 
weather. 

May 13.— Fresh winds and rainy weather; many natives alongside; hove up the 
best bower anchor ; seamen and tradesmen at their various depar ments. 

May 14. — Fresh gales and cloudy; many natives alongside; at noon weighed and 
came to sail, standing up the river northeast by-east ; we found the channel very 
narrow. At 4 p. m. we had sailed upwards of twelve or fifteen miles, when the 
channel was so very narrow that it was almost impossible to keep in it, having from 
three to eighteen fathoms water, sandy bottom. At half-past 4 the ship took ground, 
but she did not stay long before she came off, without any assistance. We backed 
her off, stern foremost, into three fathoms, and let go the small bower, and moored 
ship with kedge and hawser. The jolly boat was sent to sound the channel out, 
but found it not navigable any further up ; so, of course, we must have taken the 
wrong channel. So ends, with rainy weather; many natives alongside. 

Tuesday, May 15. — Light airs and pleasant weather ; many natives from different 
tribes came alongside. At 10 a. m. unmoored and dropped down with the tide to a 
better anchoring place; smiths and other tradesmen constantly employed. In the 
afternoon Captain Gray and Mr. Hoskins, in the jolly-boat, went on shore to take a 
short view of the country. 

May 16.— Light airs and cloudy. At 4 a. m. hove up the anchor, and towed down 
about three miles with the last of the ebb tide; came into six fathoms, sandy bottom, 
the jolly-boat sounding the channel. At 10 a. m. a fresh breeze came up river. With 
the first of the ebb-tide we got under way and beat down river. At 1, (from its be- 



127 



[ 174 ] 



The breakers extending across this bay presented, as they always 1792. 
do, a formidable appearance ; Gray, however, dashed undaunted- 
ly forward, and soon found himself on a broad and rapid river, 
the water of which was so perfectly fresh that the casks of the 
ship were filled within ten miles of the Pacific. On the 14th he May 14. 
ascended the stream by a channel near its northern bank, to the 

j distance of about twenty miles from its mouth, beyond which 
the Columbia could not advance on account of the shallowness 

I of the water. At this point he anchored, and remained employed 
in trading with the natives and making repairs until the 18th; May 18. 
he then sailed down the river, and on the 20th passed the break- May 20. 
ers, at its entrance, by beating through them, against a head wind, 

j into the ocean. 

On leaving the river, Captain Gray bestowed upon it the name 
of his ship ; the extremity of the land, at the southern side of its 
entrance, was called by him Cape Adams, and the appellation of 
Cape Hancock was substituted for that of Cape Disappointment, 
which had been given by Meares to the opposite promontory, in 
token of the unsuccessful result of his own search. Neither 
Cape Adams nor Cape Hancock is to be found on our maps at 
present; and the Columbia is not unfrequently termed the 0?-egon, 



ing very squally,) we came to, about two miles from the village, (Chinouk,) which 
jj bore west-southwest ; many natives alongside ; fresh gales and squally. 
! May 17.— Fresh winds and squally ; many canoes alongside ; calkers calking the 
pinnace ; seamen paying the ship's sides with tar; painter painting ship; smiths and 
J, carpenters at their departments. 

May 18. — Pleasant weather. At 4 in the morning began to heave ahead ; at half- 
past came to sail, standing down river with the ebb tide; at 7 (being slack water 
and the wind fluttering) we came to in five fathoms, sandy bottom; the entrance be- 
ll tween the bars bore southwest-by west, distance three miles. The north point of 
the harbor bore northwest, distant two miles ; the south bore southeast, distant three 
and a half miles. At 9 a breeze sprung up from the eastward ; took up the anchor 
and came to sail, but the wind soon came fluttering again ; came to with the kedge 
1 and hawser ; veered out fifty fathoms. Noon pleasant. Latitude observed, 46 de- 
grees 17 minutes north. At 1 came to sail with the first of the ebb-tide, and 
drifted down broadside, with light airs and strong tide; at three-quarters past, 
a fresh wind came from the northward ; wore ship and stood into the river again. 
At 4 came to in six fathoms; good holding-ground about six or seven miles up; 
many canoes alongside. 

May 19. — Fresh wind and clear weather. Early a number of canoes came along- 
side ; seamen and tradesmen employed in their various departments. 

Captain Gray gave this river the name of Columbia's River, and the north side of 
the entrance Cape Hancock ; the south, Adams's Point. 

May 20. — Gentle breezes and pleasant weather. At 1 p. m. (being full sea) took 
up the anchor and made sail, standing down river. At 2 the wind left us, we being 
on the bar with a very strong tide which set on the breakers ; it was now not possi- 
ble to get out without a breeze to shoot her across the tide , so we were obliged to 
bring up in three and a half fathoms, the tide running five knots. At three quarters 
past 2 a fresh wind came in from seaward; we immediately came to sail and beat 
over the bar, having from five to seven fathoms water in the channel. At 5 p.m. 
we were out, clear of ail the bars, and in twenty fathoms water. A breeze came 
from the southward ; we bore away to the northward ; set all sail to the best advan- 
j tage. At 8 Cape Hancock bore southeast, distant three leagues ; the north extfern- 
i ity of the land m sight bore north-by- west. At 9 in steering and top-gallant sails, 
j Midnight, light airs. 

May 21. — At 6 a. m. the nearest land in sight bore east-southeast, distant eight 
leagues. At 7 set top gallant sails and )i°;ht stay-sails. At 11 set steering-sails fore 
and aft. Noon, pleasant agreeable weather. The entrance of Bulfinch's Harbor 
bore southeast-by-east half east, distant five leagues. 



[174] 



128 



1792. upon the strength of some vague and erroneous rumors which 
Captain Carver collected, or pretended to have collected, in 1766, 
among the Indians near Lake Superior, respecting a river Oregon, 
rising in the vicinity of the sources of the Mississippi and Red 
Rivers, and emptying into the Pacific near the Strait of Fuca. 
It must, however, be acknowledged that Oregon is, in all re- 
spects, a more convenient and distinctive name than the other; 
and it has, moreover, the merit of euphoniousness. 

Such were the principal circumstances attending the discovery 
of the great river of Northwest America, a discovery far more im- 
portant in its results than any other one relating to that part of 
the world, inasmuch as it has afforded the means of communica- 
tion between the ocean and every section of one of the most fer- 
tile and valuable regions west of the Rocky Mountains. It has 
already been shown that the opening in the coast, by which Gray 
entered the stream, was first seen in 1775 by the Spanish naviga- 
tor Heceta; that it was examined in 1788 by Meares, who quit- 
ted it with the conviction that no river passed through it into 
the ocean ; and that this last opinion was adopted without quali- 
fication by Vancouver, after he had minutely explored that part 
of the coast, "under the most favorable conditions of wind and 
weather." Had not Gray returned to the search, after meeting 
with the English ships, the existence of the great river would 
doubtless have remained unknown for a much longer time, as 
the assertions of Vancouver that no openings harbor, or place of 
refuge for vessels, ivas to be found between Cape Mendocino and 
the Strait of Fuca, and that the coast within those limits " formed 
one compact, solid, and nearly straight barrier against the sea," 
would have prevented any attempt from being made to examine 
the shores, or even to approach them. 

With regard to the originality of Gray's discovery, Mr. Irving 
says, in his Astoria : # " The existence of this river, however, was 
known long before the visits of Gray and Vancouver ; but the in- 
formation concerning it was vague and indefinite, being gathered 
from the reports of the Indians. It was spoken of by travellers as 
the Oregon, and as the Great River of the West. A Spanish ship 
is said to have been wrecked at its mouth, several of the crew of 
which lived for some time among the natives." Upon these as - 
sertions no remark will be made, except by expressing a hope 
that they may be omitted in future editions of Astoria, or that the 
author will state more particularly what traveller before 1792 has 
described a great river in Northwest America, which can be 
identified with the Columbia; and when the Spanish ship was 
wrecked at the mouth of that stream. 

The plenipotentiaries of the British Government, in a State- 
ment^ presented by them to the minister of the United States, 
during a negotiation relative to Northwest America in 1826, have 
endeavored to secure the merit of the discovery of the Columbia 



* Vol. i, page 35. 

t See documents in relation to the boundary of the United States west of the 
Rocky Mountains, accompanying the President's message of December 12, 1827. 



129 



[ 174] 



to — Meares! Their account of the circumstances is worthy of 1792. 
being extracted, as affording a specimen of the manner in which 
facts are related, and deductions are drawn from them. In that 
statement the plenipotentiaries say : 

"Great Britain can show that in 178S, that is, four years be- 
fore Gray entered the mouth of the Columbia River, Mr. Meares, 
a lieutenant of the royal navy, who had been sent by the East 
I India Company on a trading expedition to the northwest coast of 
America, had already minutely explored that coast, from the 49th 
to the 45th degree of north latitude ; had taken formal possession 
of the Straits of De Fuca, in the name of his Sovereign; had pur- 
chased land, trafficked, and formed treaties with the natives ; and 
had actually entered the Bay of the Columbia, to the northern 
headland of which he gave the name of Cape Disappointment — 
a name which it bears to this day. 

" Dixon, Scott, Duncan, Strange, and other private British tra- 
ders, had also visited these shores and countries several years 
before Gray ; but the single example of Meares suffices to quash 
Gray's claim to prior discovery. To the other navigators above 
mentioned, therefore, it, is unnecessary to refer more particularly. 

"It may be worth while, however, to observe, with regard to 
Meares, that his account of his voyages was published in Lon- 
don in August, 1790 ; that is, two years before Gray is even pre- 
tended to have entered the Columbia. 

" To that account are appended, first, extracts from his log- 
; book ; secondly, maps of the coasts and harbors which he visited, 
in which every part of the coast in question, including the Bay 
of the Columbia, (into which the log expressly states that Meares 
entered,) is minutely laid down, its delineation tallying in almost 
every particular with Vancouver's subsequent survey, and with 
the description found in all the best maps of that part of the 
world, adopted at this moment; thirdly, the account in question 
actually contains an engraving, dated in August, 1790, of the en- 
trance of De Fuca's Straits, executed after a design taken in June, 
1788, by Meares himself. 

" With these physical evidences of authenticity, it is as need- 
less to contend for, as it is impossible to controvert, the truth of 
Meares's statement. 

"It was only on the 17th of September, 1788, that the Wash- 
ington, commanded by Mr. Gray, first made her appearance at 
Nootka. 

" If, therefore, any claim to these countries, as between Great 
Britain and the United States, is to be deduced from priority of 
the discovery, the above exposition of dates and facts suffices to 
establish that claim in favor of Great Britain on a basis too firm 
to be shaken. 

" It must, indeed, be admitted, that Mr. Gray, finding himself 
in the bay formed by the discharge of the waters of the Colum- 
bia into the Pacific, was the first to ascertain that this bay formed 
the outlet of a great river ; a discovery which had escaped Lieu- 
tenant Meares, when in 1788, four years before, he entered the 
same bay." 



[ 174] 



130 



1792. In reply to which, it will be unnecessary to do more than refer 
to the words of Meares himself, as contained in his Journal^ and 
as previously quoted in this memoir, page 93, where he declares 
that he sought for the River Saint Roc, laid down on the Span- 
ish maps as entering the Pacific about the latitude of 46 degrees 
10 minutes ; that he entered a bay in that latitude, and became 
convinced from his examinations that no such river existed ; and 
that, in token of the unsuccessfulness of his search, he had called 
the bay Deception Bay, and the headland on its northern side 
Cape Disappointment. That " Mr. Gray was the first to ascer- 
tain that this bay formed the outlet of a great river," is all that 
is claimed for him; for that ascertainment constituted the dis- 
covery of the Columbia, which had undoubtedly " escaped Lieu- 
tenant Meares, when in 1788, four years before, he entered the 
same bay." 

May. From the Columbia river, Gray sailed to the part of the sea 
between Queen Charlotte's Island and the continent, the coasts 
of which were then much frequented by the fur-traders, particu- 
larly by those from the United States. In the northern part of 
this sea, his ship suddenly struck upon a rock, while she was 
under full sail, and was near foundering in consequence ; she, 
however, succeeded in reaching Nootka Sound on the 21st of 
July, where the damage was soon repaired. At Nootka, Gray 
found in command of the Spanish establishment Don Juan 
Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, who had arrived from Mexi- 
co in the capacity of commissioner, to surrender to Vancouver 
the lands and buildings designated in the first article of the con- 
vention of October, 1790. To this officer the American captain 
immediately communicated the results of his examinations, which 
were substantiated by charts of Bulfinch's harbor and of the Co- 
lumbia river ; and he thus fortunately secured an unimpeachable 
witness in support of his claims to the discovery of those places. 

Meanwhile the surveys of the Strait of Fuca were in prog- 
ress. From Cape Flattery, the point at the southern side of its 
May 1. entrance, Yancouver took his departure on the 1st of May, and 
sailed along its southern shore eastward, to the distance of about 
a hundred miles, where he found a secure harbor, named by him 
Port Discovery, and a little farther on a wide bay, with passages 
extending from it in various directions. He first entered a pas- 
sage opening towards the south, which he named Admiralty In- 
let, and explored it to its termination, about a hundred miles from 
the strait, in a bay called by him Pugefs Sound, in compliment 
to one of the lieutenants of the Discovery. After surveying this 
arm completely, the officers of both ships landed at a spot near 
its entrance, on the 4th of June, the birthday of their Sovereign, 
and in his name took possession, " with the usual formalities, 
of all that part of New Albion, from the latitude of 39 degrees 20 
minutes south, and longitude 236 degrees 26 minutes east, to the 
entrance of the inlet of the sea, said to be the supposed Strait of 
Juan de Fuca, as also of all the coasts, islands, &c, within the 
said strait, and both its shores to which region they gave the 
appellation of New Georgia. With regard to this ceremony it 



131 [ 174 ] 

may be observed, that, although naval officers are not expected to 1792. 
be minutely acquainted with diplomatic affairs, yet Captain 
Vancouver, who was sent to the north Pacific to enforce the con- 
vention of October, 1790, should have recollected that, by the 
j stipulations of that convention, every part of the northwest coast 
I of America was rendered free and open for trade or settlement to 
j Spanish as well as British subjects; and that, consequently, no 
j claim of sovereignty on the part of either of those nations could 

be valid over any section of the territory. 
I After exploring to their terminations, in like manner, many in- 
lets on the eastern and southern sides of the bay, the British 
passed by an opening towards the northwest, into another ex- 
l tensive arm of the sea, where they unexpectedly met with two June 13. 
other vessels. These were the Spanish schooners Sutil and Mex- 
icana, commanded by Lieutenants Galiano and Yaldes, who had, 
as before mentioned, left Nootka on the 4th of June, and had ad- 
vanced thus far on their survey of the strait, along its northern 
shores. The meeting between the two parties was doubtless 
I vexatious to both ; they, however, treated each other with great 
civility, mutually exhibiting their charts, and comparing their 
observations ; and having agreed to unite their labors, they con- 
tinued in company nearly a month, during which they minutely 
explored the shores of the extensive arm of the sea above men- 
tioned, called by the Spaniards Canal del Rosario, and by the 
English the Gulf of Georgia. From the northwestern extremity July 13. 
! of this gulf, the British, taking leave of their Spanish friends, 
passed through a long and intricate channel, called by them John- 
stone's Strait, westward into the Pacific, which they entered on 
the 10th of August, near the 51st parallel, by Queen Charlotte's August, 
or Pintard's Sound, about one hundred and twenty miles north 
of Nootka. 

On the 28th of the same month Vancouver arrived at Nootka, 
where he communicated to the Spanish commissioner, Quadra, 
the fact thus established by him, that the supposed Strait of Fuca 
was merely an arm of the Pacific, separating from the American 
continent a great island, on the western side of which the terri- 
tory then occupied by the Spaniards, and claimed by the British, 
was situated. The fact being admitted by Quadra, the two offi- 
cers agreed that the island should bear the names of them both ; 
and it has accordingly ever since been distinguished on maps by 
the long and inconvenient appellation of Quadra and Vancouver 
Island, which it will scarcely be allowed to retain when that part 
of the world becomes settled by a civilized people. In justice to 
the British navigator, it should be Vancouver's Island. 

The Sutil and Mexicana likewise entered the Pacific by the 
same channel through which Vancouver's ships had penetrated, 
and on the 30th of August they arrived at Nootka, whence they 
sailed for Monterey on the 4th of September. The Journal* of 
their voyage, to which references have been so frequently made 



* In one vol. octavo of 340 pages, with an atlas of seventeen plates. 



j 



[ 174] 



132 



1792. in the foregoing pages, was published at Madrid in 1802, by order 
of the Spanish Government, under the direction of Don Martin 
Fernandez de Navarrete, the chief of the Hydrographical Depart- 
ment, who prefixed to it an Introduction containing an historical 
sketch of the discoveries of the Spaniards upon the west coast of 
North America. This Introduction, occupying nearly the half of 
the work, is the only part of it which has any value; the meagre 
and uninteresting details furnished by Galiano and Yaldes being 
entirely superseded by the ample and luminous accounts of Van- 
couver. The statements of Navarrete, in his historical sketch, 
are derived from original sources ; and he has conveyed to the 
world information on various points relating to the northwest 
coasts, which would otherwise have remained buried in the ar- 
chives of the Council of the Indies. The work should, however, 
be read with much caution, as it abounds in errors, the greater 
number of which are evidently not the results either of ignorance 
or of accident ; while false impressions are attempted to be made 
in almost every page, by the studied silence of the writer with 
regard to facts contrary to the views or objects of those by whose 
orders it was published. 

Aug. 30. Immediately after the arrival of Vancouver at Nootka, negotia- 
tions were commenced between him and Quadra respecting the 
transfer of the territories claimed by Great Britain. The whole 
object of the business was to ascertain what lands on the north- 
west coast of America were in the possession of British subjects , 
and what buildings were standing on those lands in May, 1789, 

Sept. when the Spaniards first occupied Nootka. For the determination 
of these questions the commissioners were, or appeared to be, as 
before said, entirely unprovided with instructions from their Gov- 
ernments ; and they were thus left to form their own conclusions, 
upon such evidence as they could collect. 

With this view Quadra had first applied to Maquinna and his 
principal men, who denied that any lands had been bought, or 
any houses had been built, by the English at Nootka, in 1789, or 
at any other time. As the testimony of the savages, however, 
could not be considered of much value, the Spaniard addressed 
his inquiries, as above mentioned, to Messrs. Gray and Ingraham, 
and to Viana, the Portuguese captain or mate of the Iphigenia, 
all of whom happened to be at Nootka in the summer of 1792. 
The American captains sent in reply a long and circumstantial 
account* of all the occurrences connected with the subject of the 
discussion, which they had themselves witnessed. In it they 
declare, that although they had remained at Nootka nine months, 
(including the period of the arrival of Martinez,) during which 
time they were in habits of constant intercourse with Maquinna 
and his people, they had never heard of any purchase of land on 
the coast by British subjects; and that the only building seen 
by them, when they reached the sound, was a hut consisting of 
rough posts, covered with boards made by the Indians, which 



* See Appendix— [D.j 



133 



[174] 



had been entirely destroyed before the entrance of the Spaniards. 1792. 
These statements were in all points confirmed by those of Viana ; Septemb. 
and the Spanish commissioner was thereupon led to the conclu- 
sion, that no lands were to be restored, and no buildings to be re- 
placed, by Spain. A communication to that effect was in conse- 
quence addressed by him to Vancouver, soon after the arrival of 
the latter at Nootka, accompanied by copies of the letters received 
from Gray and Ingraham and Viana. He, however, at the same 
time offered, for the sake of removing all causes of disagreement 
between the two nations, to surrender to the English the small 
spot of ground on Friendly Cove, which had been temporarily 
occupied by Meares, to give up for their use the houses and cul- 
tivated lands, and to retire to the Strait of Fuca ; with the un- 
derstanding, that this cession was not to affect the rights of his 
Catholic Majest]/ to the dominion of the territory , and that Nootka 
was to be considered as the most northern settlement of the Span- 
iards, to wiiom the whole coast and country lying south of it be- 
longed exclusively. 

Vancouver, on the other hand, had thought proper to construe 
the first article of the convention of 1790 as giving to his coun- 
trymen possession of the whole territory surrounding Nootka and 
Clyoquot; and he therefore refused to receive what was offered by 
Quadra, declaring, with regard to the concluding part of the 
Spaniard's proposition, that he was not authorized to enter into 
any discussion as to the rights or claims of the respective nations. 
In this conviction he was supported by the evidence of Robert 
Duffm, the former mate of the Argonaut, who happened to arrive 
at Nootka while the negotiation was in progress. This person, 
in a letter of which Vancouver gives a synopsis in his journal, 
stated— that he had himself been present in May, 1T88, at the pur- 
chase by Meares, from Maquinna, of the whole of the land form- 
ing Friendly Cove, Nootka Sound, for eight sheets of copper and 
some trifling things ; that the purchase was made in his Britan- 
nic Majesty's name, and under the British flag; and that houses 
and sheds were built on the spot by Meares, who left them in 
good repair on his departure for China; though he (Duflin) un- 
derstood that no vestige of these buildings remained when the 
Spaniards took possession of the sound. 

Upon the strength of this evidence, Captain Vancouver pro- 
nounced the assertions of Messrs. Gray and Ingraham to be en- 
tirely false; and he takes occasion, in several parts of his journal, 
to animadvert in severe language upon what he is pleased to term 
"the wilful misrepresentations of the Americans, to the prejudice 
of British subjects." Means have already been afforded in the 
preceding chapter for judging with regard to the probability of 
the truth of Duffin's assertions; and some idea may be formed of 
the extent of Captain Vancouver's candor, by comparing the let- 
ter of Gray and Ingraham, as given in the Appendix, [D,] with the 
\ synopsis of it contained in the journal of the English navigator. 
It will thus be seen, that in Vancouver's synopsis the evidence 
of the Americans is garbled in the most unfair manner ; and that 
whatever could tend to place the British or their cause in an un- 
10 



[174] 



134 



1792. favorable light, is made to disappear by artful suppressions and 
Septemb. alterations. The bitterness of Vancouver towards Gray and in- 
graham may, perhaps, be accounted for, in part at least, by the 
circumstance, that on his arrival at Nootka he learned the suc- 
cess of Gray's search for a great river, on the very coast which he 
had himself, diligently, as he thought, but vainly, explored with 
the same object. 

The negotiations* between the commissioners were continued 
during the greater part of September; until at length, finding it 
impossible to effect any arrangement of the business intrusted to 
them, they agreed to submit the whole affair, with such addi- 
tional information as they had been able t© obtain, to their re- 



* The preceding sketch of the negotiation between Vancouver and Quadra is de- 
rived from the journals of Vancouver, Galiano and Valdes, and Ingraham. Ingra- 
ham obtained his information principally from Mr. Howel, the supercargo of the 
American brig Margaret, (previously a clergyman of the Church of England.) who 
acted as translator for the Spanish commissioner, and saw the whole of (.he corres- 
pondence. He drew up for Ingraham a written statement, which is given at length 
in the journal of the American captain, and of which the following is an extract: 

" The indefinite mode of expression adopted by Messrs. Fitzherbert and Florida 
Blanca did not affix any boundaries to the cession expected by Great Britain; what 
the buildings were, or what was the extent of the tract of land to be restored, the 
plenipotentiaries did not think proper to determine. Don Juan Francisco, having 
no better guide, collected the best evidence he could procure, and that could enable 
him to determine what were the lands and buildings of which the British subjects 
were dispossessed, and which the tenor of the first article of the convention alone 
authorized him to restore. The result of this investigation ,4n which he was much 
aided by your communication, supported by the uniform declarations of Maquinna 
and his tribe, sufficiently evinced that the tract was a small corner of Friendly Cove, 
and, to use the words of Captain Vancouver, little more than a hundred yards in ex- 
tent anyway, and the buildings, according to your information, dwindled to one 
hut. Senor Quadra, having ascertainedthe limits usually occupied by Mr. Meares 
or his servants, was ever ready to deliver it in behalf of his Catholic Majesty to any 
envoy from the British Court. Captain Vancouver arrived at Nootka Sound in the 
latter end of August; and Senor Quadra wrote to him on the subject of their re- 
spective orders, and enclosed your letter, together with one from a Captain Viana, a 
Portuguese, who passed as captain of the Iphigenia, when she was detained by the 
Spaniards. Don Juan Francisco, in his letter, avowed his readiness to put Captain 
Vancouver in possession of the tract of land where Mr. Meares's house once stood, 
which alone could be that ceded to Great Britain by the convention. Senor Quadra 
offered, likewise, to leave for his accommodation all the houses, gardens, &c, which 
had been made at the expense of his Catholic Majesty, as he intended leaving the 
port immediately. In the same letter, he tendered Captain Vancouver offers of 
every service and assistance which hospitality or benevolence could dictate. Cap- 
tain Vancouver, in reply, gratefully acknowledged the intended favors, but entirely 
dissented from the boundaries affixed by Senor Quadra to the tract of land, of which 
he was to receive the possession and property; and in pursuance of his directions, 
interpreted the first article as a cession of this port, viz: Nootka Sound, intoto, to- 
gether with Clyoquot or Port Cox. He disclaimed all retrospective discussion of the . 
rights, pretensions, &c, of the two courts, and also of the actual possessions of Brit- 
ish subjects in Nootka Sound, deeming it irrelevant to the business he was author- 
ized to transact, and only to be settled by the respective Monarchs. The letters 
which followed on both sides were merely a reiteration of the foregoing proposals 
and demands. Senor Quadra invited to a discussion of the boundaries, &c, and sup- 
ported his evidence with well-grounded reasoning; yet Captain Vancouver steadily 
adhered to the demands he first made, and refused every kind of discussion. The 
definitive letter from Senor Quadra was transmitted on the 15th of September; but 
it being of the same nature with the preceding ones, Captain Vancouver only re- 
plied by a repetition of his former avowal, and informing the Spanish commandant 
that he could receive on the part of his master, the King of Britain, no other terri- 
tories than those he had pointed out in his other letters, with which, if Senor Quadra 
did not comply, he must retain them for his Catholic Majesty until the respective 
Courts should determine what further proceedings they might deem necessary." 



135 



[174] 



spective Governments, and to await further instructions; Nootka 1792. 
being, in the mean time, considered as a Spanish port. Van- 
couver accordingly despatched one of his lieutenants to England 
with accounts of the transactions ; and in the early part of October Oct. 12. 
he sailed towards the south, with three vessels — the Discovery ; 
his own ship, the Chatham, commanded by Lieutenant Brough- 
ton ; and the Dosdalus, which had recently joined him under 
Lieutenant Whidbey. About the same time Captain Quadra de- 
parted for Monterey, leaving the settlement at Nootka under the 
charge of Fidalgo ; and the American ship Columbia and brig 
Hope directed their course homeward by way of Canton. 

Vancouver quitted Nootka on the 13th of October, taking with Oct. 13. 
him charts and descriptions of the harbor and river discovered 
by Gray in the preceding April, of which he had received copies 
from the Spanish commissioner, Quadra. On the 18th he reached 
the entrance of Bulflnch's Harbor, to explore which he detached 
Lieutenant Whidbey in the Doedalus, while he himself proceeded 
with the other vessels to the mouth of the Columbia. Into that 
river the Chatham, with great difficulty, penetrated on the 20th. 
The Discovery was unable to cross the bar, and Vancouver, be- 
ing convinced from his observations that the stream was inacces- 
sible to large ships, " except in very fine weather, with moderate 
winds and a smooth sea," he sailed to the bay of San Francisco, 
where he had ordered the other officers to join him in case of 
separation. In December following the whole squadron was re- 
united at Monterey, where Whidbey and Broughton presented 
the reports of their observations. 

Whidbey's account of Bulflnch's Harbor was less favorable 
than than of Gray. From the statements of both, however, it 
appears that the place possesses advantages which must render it 
important, whenever the surrounding region becomes settled. It 
affords a safe retreat for small vessels, and there are several spots 
on its shore where boats may land without difficulty; moreover, 
it is the only harbor on the coast, between Cape Mendocino and 
the Strait of Fuca, except the mouth of the Columbia; and under <* 
such circumstances, labor and ingenuity will certainly be em- 
ployed to correct and improve what nature has offered. It has 
been already remarked, that the place is generally distinguished 
on British, and even on American maps, as Whidbey's Harbor, 
although Vancouver himself has not pretended to withhold from 
Gray the merit of discovering it. 

Broughton, as before mentioned, entered the Columbia with Oct. 20. 
the Chatham on the 20th of October ; and he there, to his sur- 
prise, found lying at anchor the brig Jenny, from Bristol, which 
had sailed from Nootka Sound a few days previous. Scarcely 
had the Chatham effected an entrance, ere she ran aground; and 
the channel proved to be so intricate, that Broughton determined 
to leave his vessel about four miles from the mouth, and to pro- Oct. 24. 
ceed up the stream in his cutter. A few words will suffice with 
regard to his survey, of which a long and detailed account is 
given in the second volume of Vancouver's Journal. 

The portion of the Columbia near the sea was found by the 



A ! 



[174] 



138 



1792, explorers to be about seven miles in width ; its depth varied from 
Oct 24, two fathoms to eight ; and it was crossed in every direction by 

shoals, which must always render the navigation difficult, even 

Oct 26. by small vessels. Higher up, the stream became narrower, and 
at the distance of twenty -five miles its breadth did not exceed 
a thousand yards. These circumstances were considered by 
Broughton and Vancouver as authorizing them to assume that 
the true entrance of the river was at the last-mentioned point, and 
that the waters between it and the ocean constituted an inlet or 
sound, From the extremity of this inlet, the party rowed eighty- 
four miles up the river, in a southwest course, to a bend, where 

Oct. 30. the current being so rapid as to prevent them from advancing 
without great labor, they abandoned the survey and returned to 

Nov. 5. their vessel. The angle of land around which the river flowed, 
and where their progress was arrested, received the appellation 
of Point Vancouver; the part of the inlet where the ship Colum- 
bia lay at anchor during her visit, was called Gray's Bay; and 
that immediately within Cape Disappointment was named Ba- 
ker's Bay, in compliment to the captain of the Jenny. On the 
10th of November the Chatham quitted the Columbia, in com- 

'Nov. 23. pany with the Jenny, and arrived at the Bay of San Francisco 
before the end of the month. 

The distinction which Yancouver and Broughton have thus 
endeavored to establish between the upper and the lower parts of 
the Columbia is entirely destitute of foundation, and at variance 
with the principles upon which our whole geographical nomen- 
clature is formed. Inlets and sounds are arms of the sea, running 
up into the land ; and their waters, being supplied from the sea, 
are necessarily salt. The waters of the Columbia are, on the 
contrary, fresh and potable within ten miles of the Pacific ; their 
volume, and the impetuosity of their current, being sufficient to 
prevent the farther ingress of the ocean billows. The question 
appears, at first, to be of no consequence ; the following extract 
from Vancouver's Journal will, however, serve to show that the 
quibble was devised by the British navigators, with the unwor- 
thy object of depriving Captain Gray of the merits of his discov- 
ery : " Previously to his [Broughton's] departure, he formally 
took possession of the river, and the country in its vicinity, in 
his Britannic Majesty's name, having every reason to believe thai 
the subjects of no other civilized nation or State had ever entered 
this river before. In this opinion he was confirmed by Mr. Gray's 
sketch, in which it does not appear that Mr. Gray either saw, or 
ever was within jive leagues of its entrance" Comments on this 
passage are needless. 

1793. From the Bay of San Francisco, Vancouver despatched Lieu- 
tenant Broughton to Europe, by way of Mexico, with further com- 
munications to his Government respecting the transfer of Nootka: 
and he then proceeded with his vessels to the Sandwich Islands, 
the importance of which, as places of resort for obtaining repairs 
and refreshments, began by that time to be properly estimated. 
He there succeeded in effecting a peace, and reciprocal recogni- 
tions of independence, between Tamahamaha, the celebrated 



137 



[174] 



chief of Owyhee, and Titeree, the sovereign of the other islands; 1793. 
and he also caused the execution of several of the natives, who 
had been delivered up to him as the murderers of two officers of 
the Doedalus in the preceding year, hut who were afterwards as- 
certained to have been guiltless of the crime imputed to them.* 
Having performed these acts of justice, he sailed towards the 
northwest coast, and arrived at Nootka in May, 1793. 

The following summer was passed by the British navigators 
in exploring the passages north and northeast of Queen Char- 
lotte's Islands, which had been partially examined by Caamano 
in 1792. It would be needless to present the particulars of these 
researches, which were conducted in the most masterly manner. 
The results were, the discovery and survey of a number of is- 
lands, situated at short distances apart, between the 54th and the 
58th parallels of latitude, in a space which had been previously 
regarded as occupied by a portion of the American continent. 
The inlet found by Gray, and supposed by him to be the Rio de 
los Reyes of Fonte, was traced to its termination in the land near 
the 56th parallel ; and whilst a part of the story of that admiral's 
voyage appeared to be confirmed by the discovery of the Archi- 
pelago, the remainder was believed to have been completely dis- 
proved, inasmuch as no great river was found entering that part 
of the Pacific. 

The islands, straits, bays, and capes thus discovered, were 
nearly all named in honor of the members of the royal family, 
the ministry, the peerage, and the other branches of the Govern- 
ment of Great Britain. Thus we find on Vancouver's map of the 
northwest Archipelago, the islands or groups of King George 
the Third, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Admiralty, 
and Pitt ; one small group, which had been partially surveyed 
by Caamano, received the appellation of Rivellagigedo Islands, 
in compliment to the Viceroy of Mexico. Between these islands 
run the Duke of Clarence's Strait, Prince Frederick's Sound, 
Chatham Canal, Grenville Canal, Burke's Canal, and Stephen's 
Passage ; the capes and bays being distributed among the Wind- 
hams, Dundases, and other high tory families of that day. It is, 
however, improbable that any one of these names will ever be 
employed by the inhabitants of the region in which the places so 
called are situated. The Russians, who now occupy the whole 
west coast of America and the adjacent islands north of the par- 
allel of 54 degrees 40 minutes, appear to have excluded, as far as 
possible, the appellations bestowed by the subjects of other States. 
Thus, on their charts of the north Pacific, Cook's Inlet is termed 
the Bay of Kenay; Prince William's Sound is the Gulf of Tschu- 
gatsch; Admiralty Bay is the Bay of Yakutat; and Norfolk Sound, 
the Port Guadelupe of the Spaniards, is the Gulf of Sitca. The 
territory called by Vancouver King George the Third's Island, 



* For the particulars of the trial and execution of these unfortunate savages, see 
Vancouver's Journal, vol. ii, page 204. Captain Broughton, when he visited the 
Sandwich Islands in 1795, was assured of their entire innocence, as may be seen in 
hk JournaL page 42. 



[174] 



138 



1793. has been since found to be divided by channels into four islands, 
which are severally distinguished by the names of Chichagof 7 
Baranqf Jacobi, and Krooze. The Prince of Wales's Islands me 
Tschirikofs Islands ; Admiralty Island is Hoosnoof ; and Ste- 
phen' 's Passage is the Strait of Acco. 

1794. These surveys having been completed, the British ships re- 
Feb. 2£. tired on the approach of cold weather to the Sandwich Islands, 

where Vancouver contrived to obtain from King Tamahamaha 
the cession of the sovereignty of Owyhee to his Britannic Majes- 
ty, with the understanding, however, that the native chief and 
his officers, as well as the priests, " were to continue to officiate 
in their respective stations, and that no alteration in those partic- 
ulars was in any degree thought of or intended." In return for 
the present, the British navigators built a vessel of war for the 
King, by the aid of which he soon after brought several other 
islands of the group under his dominion.* 

Mar. 14. j n the spring of 1794 Vancouver sailed from the Sandwich 
Islands to the bay called Cook's River, which he minutely ex- 
plored ; and having ascertained that no considerable stream emp- 
tied into it, as had been previously supposed, he changed its 
name to Cook's Inlet. Thence he proceeded to Prince William's 
Sound, which he also examined carefully; and from that place 
he continued his survey eastwardly, until he reached the Archi- 
pelago discovered by him in 1793. Through this Archipelago 
he again sailed for the purpose of completing his observations ; 
and on the 2d of August he arrived at Nootka, satisfied that " the 
precision with which his survey of the coast of Northwest Amer- 
ica had been conducted, would remove every doubt, and set aside 
every opinion of a northwest passage, or any water communica- 
tion navigable for shipping between the north Pacific and the 
interior of the American continent, within the limits of his re- 
searches." We now know that no such communication exists 
east of Beering's Strait ; but when we take into consideration the 
intricate character of the shores between Mount Saint Elias and 
the southern part of the Strait of Fuca, it must be admitted that 
many passages by which vessels could thus penetrate the conti- 
nent might have long escaped the notice of the most careful nav- 
igators. In fact, a river called the Stikine, which is three miles 
wide at its mouth, and a mile wide at the distance of thirty miles 
from the sea, has been, within a few years, discovered emptying 
into the Pacific, in the latitude of 56 degrees 50 minutes. 

Sept 2. At Nootka the Spaniards were found still in possession, under 
the command of Colonel Alava, who had been, moreover, appoint- 
ed commissioner of his Government, in place of Captain Quadra, 
lately deceased. No orders had been received from Europe rela- 
tive to the surrender of the territory, and the British ships accord- 
ingly proceeded to Monterey, where the long expected instruc- 
tions arrived during their stay. The Court of Madrid had agreed 
to abandon Nootka; and on the part of Great Britain, another 



* This justly celebrated man died in 1819, having some years previous established 
his authority over all the islands of the group. 



139 



[ 174] 



commissioner was despatched to the Pacific to receive possession 1794. 
of the place, if Vancouver should have quitted that ocean. Under 
these circumstances Yancouver resolved to return to England, 1795. 
where he arrived in August, 1795. 

The Journals of Vancouver's voyage were published in 1798, 
before which period the navigator had sunk into the grave. The 
work is invaluable, notwithstanding the illiberal spirit which 
pervades its pages. In none other can be found so much clear 
and precise information with regard to the northwest coasts of 
America; and it is only to be lamented that one endowed with 
such courage, capacity, and professional skill, as the author evi- 
dently possessed, should have been so far governed by unworthy 
prejudices as he evidently was. Towards the Spaniards he ap- 
pears to have been inclined, generally, to act with justice, or at 
least with courteousness ; but against all citizens of the United 
States, and their country, he cherished the most bitter animosity, 
which was in many instances too powerful to be controlled by his 
sense of honor. Whenever an opportunity presented itself, or 
could be contrived, for exhibiting the character or conduct of 
Americans in an unfavorable light, it was eagerly seized by Van- 
couver; and that which he would have pardoned or commended 
in an Englishman or a Spaniard, became criminal in his eyes 
when committed by a citizen of the hated Republic. 

The observations of Vancouver form the basis of our best maps 
of the west coast of America, from the 30th degree of latitude to 
the northern extremity of Cook's Inlet, as also of those of the 
Sandwich Islands, which he surveyed with care. The maps 
contained in the atlas annexed to the Journal of the Voyage of 
the Sutil and Mexicana, are nearly all copied from those of the 
British navigator. 

Whilst these surveys of the Pacific coasts of North America 1789. 
were in progress, Alexander Mackenzie, a Scotchman in the ser- 
vice of the celebrated fur- trading association, called the North- 
west Company, was exploring the unknown regions of the conti- 
nent bordering upon that part of the ocean. The association by 
which he was employed had been formed in 1787, among the 
principal fur-merchants of Canada, for the purpose of carrying on 
the trade between the posts of that country and such of the Brit- 
ish territories of the interior as were supposed to be not included 
in the grant to the Hudson's Bay Company ; and within two 
years afterwards, its establishments had been advanced as far as 
Lake of the Hills, or Athabaska Lake, near the 59th parallel of 
latitude, about eight hundred miles beyond Lake Superior. 

From Fort Chipewyan, the trading-station on this lake, Mac- 
kenzie departed on his first journey in June, 1789, and proceeded 
in a boat down the Slave River, which flows out of the lake, di- 
rectly northward, into the Great Slave Lake, discovered by Hearne 
in 1770. Thence he continued northwestward, down another 
and much larger stream, on which he bestowed his own name, 
to its termination in a sea near the 69th degree of latitude ; and 
having thus fulfilled the objects of his expedition, he returned to 
Fort Chipewyan. The mouth of the Mackenzie was situated 



[174] 



140 



1789. much farther west than that of the Coppermine, which Hearne 
had reached ; and the probability of the existence of a northern 
navigable communication between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 
east of Beering's Strait, was thus considerably lessened; while, on 
the other hand, stronger grounds were afforded for the belief that 
the northernmost parts of America were bathed by an open sea. 

1792. In his second expedition, begun in October, 1792, Mackenzie 
Oct. 10. ascended the Unjigah, or Peace River, (which empties into the 

Athabasca Lake,) westward to its sources, among the Rocky 

1793. Mountains. Having crossed this chain, he embarked upon ano- 
ther large stream called the Tacoutchee, which he descended to a 
short distance ; and then marching directly westward, he reached 

July 22. the Pacific on the 22d of July, 1793, at the mouth of one of the in- 
Aug, 24. lets near the Princess Royal Islands, in the latitude of 52 degrees 
and 20 minutes.* By this second journey, he ascertained that no 
passage existed through the North American continent, opening 
into the Pacific south of the parallel above mentioned; which fact 
had been already, though less decisively, proved by Vancouver 
in the preceding year. The Tacoutchee was for some time sup- 
posed to be the principal branch of the Columbia; it has, how- 
ever, been subsequently found to be a much smaller stream, 
emptying into the Strait of Fuca, and it is now known as Fra- 
zer's River. 

The journals of Mackenzie's two expeditions were published 
together, at London, in 1S02, accompanied by. a history of the 
Canada fur trade, and by observations on the mode of conducting 
the commercial intercourse between America and China advan- 
tageously to the interests of Great Britain. He there recommends 
that the Hudson's Bay and the Northwest Companies, which had 
been at war with each other ever since the formation of the latter, 
should be united ; that the British Government should favor the 
establishment of communications across the continent, for which 
the Tacoutchee, supposed by him to be the Columbia, would 
afford great facilities ; and that the East India Company should 
throw open to their fellow- subjects the trade between the north- 
west coasts and Canton, which was then, as he says, "left to the 
adventurers of the United States, acting without regularity or 
capital, or the desire of conciliating future confidence, and look- 
ing only to the interest of the moment." Experience has proved 
the justice of Mackenzie's observations ; and nearly all his sug- 
gestions have been adopted, to the manifest advantage of Great 
Britain. 

It is proper to notice here an account of an expedition across 
the American continent, made between 1791 and 1794, by a party 
of citizens of the United States, under the direction of Julius 
Rodman, whose journal has been recently discovered in Virginia, 
and is now in course of publication in a periodical magazinef at 



* On the day of Mackenzie's arrival on the shore of the Pacific, Vancouver was 
examining another inlet situated about one hundred and fifty miles farther north. 

t Burton's Magazine and American Monthly Review, edited by William E. Bur- 
ton and Edgar A. Poe. Mr. Rodman's journal is commenced in the number for 
January, 1840, and is continued in those for the next following months. 



141 



[ 174] 



Philadelphia. The portion which has yet appeared relates only 1792. 
to the voyage of the adventurer up the Missouri during the sum- 
mer of 1791 ; and no idea is communicated of their route beyond 
that river, except in the Introduction by the editor, where it is 
stated that they traversed the region "west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and north of the 60th parallel, which is still marked upon 
our maps as unexplored, and which, until this day, has been al- 
ways so considered." From what has been published, it is im- 
possible to form a definitive opinion as to the degree of credit 
which is due to the narrative, or as to the value of the statements, 
if they are true; and all that can be here said in addition is, that 
nothing as yet appears, either in the journal or relating to it, cal- 
culated to excite suspicions with regard to its authenticity. 

To conclude with regard to the delivery of Nootka. 1795. 

The commissioner appointed by the British Government to re- 
ceive possession of that place, provided Vancouver should have 
left the Pacific, was Captain Robert Broughton, the former com- 
mander of the Chatham. He sailed from England in the ship 
Providence in October, 1794, and in April, 1796, He reached 1796 
Nootka, which he found occupied only by the natives. He there 
learned from a letter, presented to him by Maquinna, dated March, 
1795, that " the Spaniards had delivered up the port of Nootka, 
&c, to Lieutenant Pierce, of the marines, [who had been des- 
patched from England, by way of Mexico, in order to hasten the 
termination of the business,] agreeably to the mode of restitution 
settled between the two Courts."* 

This is the account given by Broughton.f On the other hand, 
Belsham, an historian whom no one can suspect of want of at- 
tachment to the honor and interests of his country, says: J "It is 
nevertheless certain, from the most authentic subsequent infor- 
mation, that the Spanish flag flying at the fort and settlement of 
Nootka was never struck, and that the whole territory has been virtu- 
ally relinquished by Great Britain ; a measure, however politically 
expedient, which involves in it a severe reflection upon the min- 
ister who could permit so invidious an encroachment upon the 



* In the library of Congress at Washington is an interesting Spanish manuscript, 
presented by General Tornel, during his residence in the United States as minister 
from Mexico, entitled Instruction Reservada delReyno de Nueva, Esparta que el Exmo. 
Sehor Virrey Conde de Revillagigedo dio a su sucesor el Exmo. Sehor Marques de 
Branciforte en el ano de 1794; that is to say — Secret Instructions, or rather notes on 
the Kingdom of New Spain, given in 1794 by the Viceroy, Count de Revillagigedo, 
to his successor, the Marquis de Branciforte. This work, which abounds in curi- 
ous details relative to the administration of affairs in Mexico, has been carefully 
examined, with reference to the objects of the present memoir. Nothing, however, 
has been collected from it, except in confirmation of statements elsewhere made. 
The paragraphs from 703 to 713, inclusive, are devoted to the Marine Department of 
San Bias, to which, as already mentioned, the care of the Spanish colonies in Cali- 
fornia was committed. The Count recommends to his successor the maintenance 
of those colonies, as the best means of preserving Mexico from foreign influences j 
advising him, at the same time, however, not to extend the establishments beyond 
the Strait of Fuca. With regard to Nootka, it is merely stated, in paragraph 713, 
that orders had been sent to the commandant to abandon the place, agreeably to a 
royal dictamen. 

t Broughton's Journal of his Voyage, page 50. 

% Belshatn's History of Great Britain, vol. viii, page 337. 



142 



1796. ancient and acknowledged rights of the Crown of Spain." The 
probability is, that the Spaniards merely abandoned the place. 

Since that period, no attempt has been made by any civilized 
nation to form an establishment at Nootka or in its vicinity, al- 
though the sound continued to be, and probably still is, occasion- 
ally visited by the fur-traders. The most recent accounts of it 
which have been published, are of no later date than 1S07, when 
King Maquinna was enjoying the fulness of health and of power; 
and although his manners appeared to have then become more 
refined, he was still at heart a cruel and treacherous savage.* 

In this and the next preceding chapters, an endeavor has been 
made to present an impartial view of the circumstances connected 
with the occupation of Nootka by the Spaniards in 1789 ; and it 
is believed that the erroneousness of the statements of the British 
political and historical authorities respecting those circumstances 
has been conclusively demonstrated. It has been shown that — 

No part of " the northwest coasts of the continent of North Amer- 
ica, or of the adjacent islands" was, or ever had been, occupied 
by British subjects prior to the formation of the Spanish post at 
Nootka, in 1789: 

That, consequently, no " buildings or tracts of land" in that 
quarter were " to be restored to British subjects" agreeably to the 
convention of October 28,1790: and, as a farther consequence, 

That the abandonment of Nootka by the Spaniards, in 1795, 
gave to Great Britain no other rights at that, or any other place in 
Northwest America, than those derived from the third and fifth 
articles of the abovementioned convention, by which. her sub- 
jects were at liberty to navigate and fish in the north Pacific, to 
trade or settle in unoccupied parts of its American coasts north of 
the parts occupied by the Spaniards before April, 1789, (that is to 
say, north of the Bay of San Francisco;) and to have free access 
to any Spanish settlement on the coasts thus designated. 



* Narrative of the Destruction of the ship Boston, of Boston, and of the murder of 
all her men except two, by the savages at Nootka Sound, in March, 1803, with ac- 
counts of that country and of its inhabitants: by John R. Jewitt, one of the survivors 
of the crew, who remained three years in captivity among the Indians — a simple and 
unpretending narrative, which will, no doubt, in after centuries, be read with inter- 
est by the enlightened people of Northwest America. • 



143 



[1*4] 



CHAPTER YHI, 

Comprehending the period between 1796 and 1815 — Commerce between the north- 
west coasts of America and Canton conducted exclusively by vessels of the Uni- 
ted States — Formation of the Russian American Company ; account of its system 
and establishments — Complaints of the Russians against the traders of the United 
States — Cession of Louisiana to the United States ; supposed extent of Louisiana 
in the north and northwest— Expedition of Lewis and Clarke to the mouth of the 
Columbia — First enterprises of British and American fur-traders in Northwest 
America — Astoria enterprise — Mouth of the Columbia occupied by the Ameri- 
cans, who are dislodged by the British. 

In October, 1796, Spain declared war against Great Britain; 1796. 
and, for nearly twenty years afterwards, the Governments and 
people of both nations were too much engrossed by events daily 
occurring in their immediate vicinity to have any leisure to be- 
stow on matters so comparatively unimportant as those connect- 
ed with the northwest coasts of America. 

During this whole period, the direct trade between those coasts 
and Canton was carried on exclusively by the vessels, and under 
the flag, of the United States. The British merchants were pre- 
vented from engaging in this commerce by the refusal of their 
own East India Company to allow it ; the Russians were not ad- 
mitted into the Chinese ports, and few ships of any other nation 
were seen in the north Pacific. 

Until 1811 the Americans had formed no establishment on the 
western shore of the continent. Their vessels sailed from the 
United States, or from Europe, to the north Pacific, laden with 
spirits, wine, sugar, tobacco, fire-arms, gunpowder, iron, and 
coarse manufactures of various sorts, which were exchanged for 
furs with the natives on the coasts, or with the Russians at their 
settlements ; or sometimes the American captain would hire from 
a Russian agent a number of hunters and fishermen, with their 
boats and implements, for the season, and would thus obtain a 
cargo. The furs were thence carried to Canton, where the pro- 
ceeds of their sale were invested in teas, porcelain, silks, and 
nankeens, for the markets of the United States or of Europe. 
When a sufficient quantity of furs could not be collected in the 
north Pacific, their place was supplied by sandal-wood, pearl 
shells, and tortoise shells, which were procured at little expense 
in the Sandwich and other islands, and always commanded high 
prices at Canton. 

The persons engaged in this trade were constantly exposed to 
the most dreadful hardships and dangers, against which nothing 
but extraordinary courage and skill on their parts could have 
enabled them to struggle successfully. These circumstances 
were not calculated to soften the feelings or to improve the mor- 
als of the traders; and as they were actually subject to no other 



144 



1796. laws or restrictions, during their voyages in the Pacific, than 
such as they themselves chose to adopt or observe, it could not 
have been expected that their conduct should at all times be con- 
formable with the principles of justice. They have been charged 
by British reviewers and British naval officers — authorities always 
to be distrusted on matters pertaining to the United States or its 
citizens — with practising every species of fraud and violence to- 
wards the natives of the coasts and islands of that ocean. It does 
not, however, appear, upon examining the facts brought forward 
in support of these accusations, that the American fur-traders 
were guilty of other or greater improprieties than have ever been , 
and must ever be, committed by shrewd and intelligent civilized 
people, when unrestrained by laws, in their transactions with 
brutal, ignorant, and faithless savages. These latter, in their turn, 
availed themselves of every occasion to rob and murder the 
strangers who came to their shores. More than one American 
ship has been seized, and all on board massacred by the na- 
tives of the Pacific coasts ; and seldom, indeed, did a vessel 
from the United States complete her voyage in that ocean, with- 
out losing some part of her crew by the treachery of those with 
whom they were dealing. Thus in March, 1803, the ship Bos- 
ton, of Boston, commanded by John Salter, was surprised at Noot- 
ka, by Maquinna and his followers, and all her men were put to 
death except two, who, after remaining in slavery three years, 
effected their escape.* In like manner, the Tonquin, Captain 
Thorn, of New York, fell into the hands of Wiccanish and his 
subjects at Nittinat, or Berkely Sound, in June, 1811 ; nearly the 
whole of her crew perished in a moment, under the clubs and 
knives of the assailants, and the remainder, with the exception of 
the Indian interpreter, were soon after destroyed, together with a 
large number of savages, by the explosion of the powder maga- 
zine, which was fired probably by one of the officers. f 

In the mean time the Russians, though excluded from the di- 
rect trade with Canton, were continually increasing and enlarging 
their establishments in America. J The association formed in 1785, 
among the merchants of eastern Siberia, for carrying on the fur 



* Narrative of John R. Jewitt, already mentioned at page 142. 

t A minute and graphic account of the destruction of the Tonquin, collected from 
the evidence of the interpreter, who afterwards found his way to the Columbia 
River, is given by Ross Cox, in his account of his residence on the Columbia River, 
and has been thence transferred by Mr. Irving to his Astoria. 

t The following sketch of the Russian establishments in the north Pacific, during 
the first years of the present century, is derived chiefly from — 
_ L Narrative of a Voyage around the World, in the years 1803-1806, in the Rus- 
sian ships Nadeshda and Neva, under the command of Captain A. J. Von Krusen- 
stern. The original edition of this work is accompanied by a large atlas, contain- 
ing charts and other engravings. 

II. Narrative of a Voyage around the World in the Ship Neva, by her captain, 
Urey Lisiansky. 

III. Narrative of a Voyage in the Pacific, by G. H. Von Langsdorf, the physician 
of the Russian ship Nadeshda. 

IV Narrative of a Voyage around the World, in 1815 and 1816, in the Russian 
ship Kurick, commanded by Lieutenant Otto Von Kotzebue. And from— 

V. Various documents existing in the archives of the Department of State, at 
Washington. 



145 [174] 

trade of the north Pacific, was protected and encouraged by the 1796. 
Empress Catherine, who bestowed upon it many valuable privi- 
leges. Her son and successor, Paul, was, at the beginning of his 
reign, inclined to withdraw these advantages, and even to break 
up the association, on account of the cruel conduct of its agents 
towards the natives and the Russians who were employed in its 
service. Reasons of state, however, induced him to abandon this 
resolution ; and he at length, by a decree of the 8th of July, 1799, 1799. 
granted to the united merchants a charter, assuring to them, under Jul Y 8 - 
the title of the Russian American Company, the exclusive use 
and control, for twenty years, of all the coasts of America on the 
Pacific, and the islands in that ocean, from Beering's Strait to the 
55th degree of south latitude, together with the right of occupy- 
ing any other territories not previously possessed by some civil- 
ized nation. The residence of the directors of the company was 
at first fixed at Irkutsk, in Siberia, the great depository of the 
China trade ; it was afterwards transferred to St. Petersburgh, and 
their affairs were placed under the superintendence, or rather the 
directors were placed under the surveillance, of the Imperial De- 
partment of Commerce. 

The privileges thus accorded by Paul, were confirmed and ex- 1800, 
tended by Alexander ; and, under these favorable auspices, the 
power and influence of the Russian American Company rapidly 
advanced. In 1803, its establishments on the north Pacific coasts 1803. 
extended eastward, as far as Port Guadelupe, or Norfolk Sound, 
called by the Russians the Gulf of Sitca, which separates the 
small Island of Mount San Jacinto, or Edgecumb, or Krooze, from 
Baranofs Island, the largest of the group named by Vancouver 
King George the Third's Archipelago. The settlement on the 
Gulf of Sitca was destroyed by savages in 1804 ; another was, 1804 - 
however, soon founded in the vicinity of the same spot, which 
received the appellation of New Archangel, and has ever since 
been the capital of Russian America. 

In 1806 preparations were made for occupying the mouth of i806. 
the Columbia River, but the plan was abandoned ; although that 
part of the coast, and all north of it, was then, and for many 
years afterwards, represented on the maps of the Russian Ameri- 
can Company as included within the limits of its possessions. 

The Government of Russian-America was arranged and conduct- isoo, 
ed in the most despotic manner possible, nearly resembling that of 
a Turkish Pashalik ; each factory was superintended by a Russian 
overseer, who, with the aid of a small number of Russians, main- 
tained absolute control over all the natives in his district, com- 
pelling them constantly to labor for the benefit of the company. 
The overseers were under the superintendence of agents, one of 
whom resided in each group of settlements ; and all were subject 
to the authority of a chief agent, or governor-general, appointed 
by the directors, whose powers, though nominally defined and 
limited by regulations drawn up at St. Petersburgh, were, in fact, 
absolute and unrestricted. The person who filled the office of 
governor-general at the beginning of this century, and for many 
years afterwards, was Alexander JBaranoff, a bold, shrewd, enter- 



146 



1800. prising, and unfeeling man, under whose iron rule the affairs of 
the company prospered, and its stock rose proportionally in value; 
his proceedings were, therefore, always approved by those to whom 
he was accountable, and complaints against his tyranny were al- 
ways disregarded. 

The Russians engaged in the service of the company, under 
the direction of the overseers, were distinguished by the general 
name of P? , omuschleniks y (meaning speculators,) and were em- 
ployed as hunters, fishermen, seamen, soldiers, or mechanics, as 
their superiors might command. In the best of these situations, 
their lot appears to have been more wretched than that of any 
other class of human beings, with the exception, perhaps, of the 
natives, whom they aided in keeping under subjection; and it 
therefore is not surprising that none but vagabonds and adven- 
turers should ever have become promuschleniks. The gallant 
and humane Krusenstern, in the narrative of his expedition to 
the Pacific in 1804 and 1805, presents a number of dreadful pic- 
tures of the sufferings of these unfortunate persons from want of 
food, from the severity of the climate, and from too much labor. 
According to the most recent accounts, it appears that their situa- 
tion, while they are on land at least, has not been materially im- 
proved^ 

The greater part of the furs collected on the northwest coasts 
of America continued to be, during the period mentioned at the 
beginning of this chapter, transported to Petro -Paulo wsk and 
Ochotsk, from which places were brought nearly all the articles 
required for the use of the settlements ; the remainder of the sup- 
plies being obtained from American vessels in the manner al- 
ready described. The Russian Government, however, soon be- 
came desirous to exclude the vessels of the United States from 
the north Pacific, not only from a wish to monopolize the fur 
trade, but also in order to prevent the natives of the coasts from 
procuring arms and ammunition, with which they ivere fur- 
nished by the Americans, to the great detriment of the authority 
and interests of the Russian company. For this purpose, it 
would be necessary to maintain a naval force in the vicinity of 
the settlements, and to establish regular communications, by 
ships, between thern and Europe ; and, with the view of inqui- 
ring how those measures might be best executed, as well as of 
opening, if possible, some intercourse with Japan and the ports 
of China, it was determined that a scientific and political expedi- 
tion should be made to the north Pacific. 
1803. Two ships, the Nadeshda, commanded by Captain Krusen- 
stern, and the Neva, by Captain Lisiansky, were accordingly 
despatched from Cronstadt in August 1803, carrying out the 
chamberlain, Von Resanoff, as ambassador to Japan, and pleni- 
potentiary of the Russian-American Company, together with a 
large body of officers and men of science. These were the first 
vessels, under the Russian flag, which crossed the equinoctial 



* It will be recollected that these accounts are derived from Russian authorities. 



147 



[ 174] 



line ; they passed around Cape Horn, and, touching at the Wash- 1803. 
ington and the Sandwich Islands, they reached the coasts of the 
north Pacific in the summer of 1804. Without detailing the sub- 
sequent occurrences of the expedition, which lasted until the 
summer of 1806, it will be sufficient to say, that none of the po- 
litical or commercial objects proposed were attained. The Jap- 
anese, as usual, refused peremptorily to allow any intercourse to 
be carried on between their dominions and those of Russia ; nor 
would the Chinese admit the commercial ships of the latter 
Power into Canton. The plans of Yon Resanoff (who appears 
to have been a ridiculous and incompetent person) for the man- 
agement of the affairs of the company proved wholly inapplica- 
ble ; and the propriety of immediately expelling the Americans 
from the north Pacific, even could it be done, was rendered very 
questionable by the fact that the garrison and inhabitants of 
Sitca would have all infallibly perished from famine, in the win- 
ter of 1805-'6, had they not been fortunately supplied with pro- 1806. 
visions by the ship Juno from Rhode Island.* Finally, what- 
ever may have been the conclusions formed upon the informa- 
tion acquired during the expedition, as to the practicability of 
maintaining a direct commercial intercourse, by sea, between the 
Russian ports in Europe and their settlements on the Pacific, 
certain it is that no attempt for that purpose was again made 
until 1814. 

The expedition above mentioned was, however, in all respects, 
highly honorable to those who conducted it. The accounts sepa- 
rately published by Krusenstern, Lisiansky, and Langsdorf, par- 
ticularly those of Krusenstern, are among the most instructive 
works which have appeared relating to the north Pacific and its 
coasts. They exhibit, indeed, frightful pictures of the misery en- 
dured by the persons in the service of the Russian -American Com- 
pany; but they, at the same time, present instances of fortitude, 
perseverance, and good feeling, on the part of the Russians, cal- 
culated to counteract any unfavorable impressions which might 
otherwise have been formed with regard to the general charac- 
ter of that people. 

After the return of Krusenstern's ships, representations were 180S, 
addressed by the Russian Government to that of the United 
States, with regard to the improper conduct of American citizens 
in trading in arms and ammunition with the natives on the coasts 
of the north Pacific ; and endeavors were made to procure the 
passage by Congress of some act, or the conclusion of some con- 
vention between the two nations, by the effect of which such 
commerce might be prevented. These representations producing 
no results, Count Romanzoff, the Russian Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, proposed to Mr. Adams, the American Envoy at St. Pe- 1810. 
tersburgh, an arrangement by which the vessels of the United 
States should be allowed to transport furs from the Russian set- 
tlements to China, on condition that they should abstain from all 



* Langsdorf, vol. ii, page 89. 



[174] 



148 



1810. trade with the natives on the northwest coasts. Mr. Adams, in 
his answer to this proposition, desired to know — within what lati- 
tudes the restriction would be expected to he observed ? and the 
reply being, that the Russian-American Company claimed posses- 
sion of the whole coasts extending from Beering's Strait to the 
southward of the Columbia River, the correspondence was not 
continued. An arrangement conformable with the views of the 

1812. Russians was, in 1812, concluded between their American com- 
pany and a citizen of the United States, but circumstances pre- 
vented it from being carried into execution. 

Before 1812, Sitca was the most southern portion on the west- 
ern side of America occupied by the Russians. In that year they 
formed an establishment in California, which deserves particular 
notice. The chief agent, Baranoff, obtained from the Spanish 
Governor of Monterey permission to erect some houses, and to 
leave a few men on the shore of the small Bay of Bodega, near 
Port San Francisco, in order to procure and salt the meat of the 
wild cattle, which overrun that country, for the supply of the set- 
tlement at New Archangel. In the course of two or three years 
after this permission was granted, the number of the persons thus 
employed had become so great, and their dwelling-place had as- 
sumed so much the appearance of a fortress, that the Governor 
thought proper to remonstrate on the subject; and his represent- 
ations being disregarded, he formally commanded the Russians 
to quit the territories of his Catholic Majesty. The command 
was treated with as little respect as the remonstrance ; and when 
it was repeated, the Russian agent, KuskofF, replied by denying 
the right of the Spaniards over the country, which he asserted to 
be vacant and open for occupation by the subjects of any civil- 
ized Power. The Governor was unable to enforce his orders 5 

1815. and as no assistance could be afforded to him from Mexico, which 
was then ravaged by civil wars, the intruders were left in undis- 
turbed possession of the ground, where they have ever since re- 
mained, in defiance alike of the Spaniards and of their republican 
successors.* 

The Russian-American Company, about the same period, made 
another effort to create a direct commercial intercourse by sea be- 
tween its settlements on the Pacific and the European ports of 
the Empire. With this object, the American ship Hannibal was 
purchased from Mr. Astor, of New York; and her name having 
been changed to the Smvarrow, she was despatched from Saint 
Petersburgh, in 1814, under the command of Lieutenant Lazaref, 
laden with goods for New Archangel. She returned in 1816 with 
a cargo of furs, valued at a million of dollars ; and the adventure 
having been pronounced successful, others of the same nature 
were undertaken. 

In 1815 Baranoff endeavored to obtain possession of Atooi, one 



* The Russians have now several establishments in that part of California, of 
which the principal, called Boss, is situated immediately on the Pacific, in latitude 
of 38 degrees and 33 minutes, about thirty miles north of Port Bodega, or Port Ro= 
manzolf, as the Russians have named it. 



149 



[ 174] 



of the Sandwich Islands. For that purpose about a hundred 1815. 
men, nearly all Aleutians, were sent in two vessels from Sitca, 
under the direction of Dr. Sheffer, a German, who had arrived in 
the Pacific as surgeon to the ship Suwarrow. They landed on 
the island, which they ravaged, without subduing it, for more 
than a year, and were then obliged to depart for Owyhee, where 
they entered the service of some American whalers, by whom 
they were finally restored to their country. The Russian Gov- 
ernment appeared to disapprove this act of BaranofF; and no at- 
tempt has been since made by subjects of that or any other foreign 
nation to invade those islands. 

The Government of the United States had before this period 
begun to assert claims to the possession of the territory drained 
by the Columbia river, the origin and extent of which claims will 
now be traced. 

The discovery of the Columbia by Gray attracted very little 1792 
attention in the United States for more than ten years after it had 
been effected. None but persons concerned in the fur trade of 
the north Pacific, and the curious in geographical matters, were 
acquainted with the fact; and no one imagined that any thing 
connected with that river would ever be considered important to 
the Americans in a political point of view. The territories of the 
United States were then bounded on the west by the river Mis- 
sissippi, and on the north by the dominions of Great Britain; be- 
yond the Mississippi lay the vast region called Louisiana, stretch- 
ing from the Gulf of Mexico northward and northwestward to an 
undefined extent; so that all communication, except by sea, be- 
tween the Federal Republic and the Pacific side of America, was 
completely barred by the intervention of countries belonging to 
foreign and rival Powers. Louisiana, originally settled by the 
French, had been ceded, in 1762, to Spain, which held it until 
October 1, 1800, and then retroceded it to France, "the same in 
extent," says the treaty of retrocession, "as it now is in the hands 
of Spain, as it was when France formerly possessed it, and as it 
should be, according, to the treaties subsequently made between 
Spain and other nations." 

Under such circumstances, any claims of the United States to 
territories bordering upon the Pacific, would have been nominal 
and barren, and all attempts to realize them must have proved 
abortive. But the position of the Americans, and the views of 1803. 
their Government towards the northwestern section of the conti- A P ril ^ 
nent, were materially changed after the 30th of April, 1 803, when 
Louisiana came into their possession by purchase from France, 
" with all its rights and appurtenances, as fully, and in the same 
manner, as it had been acquired from Spain" in 1800. Before 
relating the dispositions made in consequence of this cession, 
some observations will be necessary respecting the northern and 
northwestern limits of the country which thus became the prop- 
erty of the United States. 

The earliest attempt, either real or ostensible, to define the 
boundaries of Louisiana, was made by Louis XIV, in 1712, in 
the patent by which he granted to Antoine Crozat the exclusive 
11 



[ 174] 



150 



1903. trade of that country. The patent declares it to be the will of 
the King, that " all the territories by him possessed, bounded by 
New Mexico, and by the lands of the English in Carolina, and 
all the establishments, ports, harbors, rivers, especially the port 
and harbor of Dauphin Island, formerly called Massacre Island, 
the river Saint Louis, formerly called the Mississippi, from the 
seacoast to the Illinois country, together with the rivers Saint 
Philip, formerly called the Missouri, and the Saint Jerome, for- 
merly called the Wabash, [the Ohio,] with all the lands, coun- 
tries, lakes in the land, and the rivers falling directly or indirectly 
into that part of the river Saint Louis, shall be and remain com- 
prised under the name of the Government of Louisiana, which 
shall be subordinate to the General Government of New France; 
and that all the lands by him possessed on this side of the Illi- 
nois, shall be reunited to, and form part of, the General Govern- 
ment of New France ; the King, nevertheless, reserving to himself 
the privilege of increasing the extent of Louisiana, as he may 
judge proper." Agreeably to this exposition of its limits, Louis- 
iana extended, in 1712, northward to about the 42d parallel of 
latitude, and westward to New Mexico ; between which latter 
country and the Pacific, California intervened. What portion of 
the continent northward of that parallel, and west of the ^reat 
lakes, the Illinois country thus attached to New France was sup- 
posed to comprehend, there are no means of ascertaining. The 
French maps of the early part of the last century represent as in- 
cluded in New France many rivers flowing towards the Pacific, 
none of which, however, exist as there described; while the 
Spaniards, on the other hand, regarded the whole unoccupied re- 
gion northwest of New Mexico as forming part of their own Cal- 
ifornia ; and the British geographers recorded the claims of their 
nation to the same territory, by constantly applying to it the name 
of New Albion. 

In 1713 the celebrated peace of Utrecht was concluded. In 
the tenth article of the treaty between Great Britain and France, 
" it is agreed on both sides to determine within a year, by com- 
missaries to be forthwith named by each party, the limits which 
are to be fixed between the said Bay of Hudson," (then secured, 
with its adjacent territories, to Great Britain,) " and the places 
appertaining to the French : which limits both the British and 
French subjects shall be wholly forbid to pass over, or thereby 
to go to each other by sea or by land. The same commissaries 
shall also have orders to describe and settle, injike manner, the 
boundaries between the other British and French colonies in 
those parts." That commissaries were appointed agreeably to 
this provision, there is reason to believe; but there is no suffi- 
cient evidence that any boundaries were determined by them. 
Two distinct lines may, however, be found traced on different 
maps published in the last century, each purporting to be the 
limit between the Hudson's Bay territories on the north, and the 
French possessions'on the south, fixed by commissaries according 
to the treaty of Utrecht. One of these lines follows the course, 
or supposed course, of the highlands which separate the waters 



151 



[174] 



flowing into Hudson's Bay from those emptying into the great 1803. 
lakes and the Saint Lawrence. The other is drawn irregularly 
from the Atlantic to a point in the 49th parallel of latitude, south 
of the southernmost part of Hudson's Bay, and thence westward 
I along that parallel to Red River; and in some maps still farther 
! west. This latter line is generally considered in the United 
States, and has been assumed by their Government,* as the true 
I boundary settled by the commissaries, agreeably to the treaty 
above mentioned; but this opinion is at variance with the most 
accredited authorities, as will be seen by reference to the Appen- 
dix, [E,] containing a review of all the works from which exact 
information could be expected. 

In 1717,' Crozat relinquished his exclusive privileges with re- 
s' gard to Louisiana ; after which, the Illinois country was added 
to that province by a royal arret, and the whole territory was 
granted to the Compagnie d 7 Orient, generally known as Law's 
Mississippi Company. In 1763, France gave up to Great Britain 
all her possessions east of the Mississippi, except a small tract 
| near New Orleans, having, a short time previous, ceded the re- 
mainder of Louisiana to Spain. f By these arrangements, the 
middle of the Mississippi, from its source, to the river Iberville, 
near New Orleans, became the dividing-line between the British 
possessions on the east and those of Spain on the western side, 
nothing being fixed with regard to territories north of the said 
source; and from that period to 1803, when Louisiana became 
the property of the United States, its extent towards the north or 
j northwest could not have been affected by any treaty hitherto 
made public, unless by the convention of October, 17y0, between 
Spain and Great Britain, which applied to all American territories 
claimed by Spain upon the Pacific, north of the 38th degree of 
latitude. 

Prom the preceding review, it will be seen that history fur- 



* The earliest official assertion to this effect, on the part of the Government of the 
i United States, which has been found, is contained in the following sentence ex- 
| tracted from a letter addressed by Messrs. Monroe and Pinckney, at Madrid, on the 
; 20th of April, 1805, to Don Pedro Cevallos, the Spanish Minister of State: " In con- 
formity with the tenth article of the first mentioned treaty, [treaty of Utrecht,] the 
boundary between Canada and Louisiana, on the one side, and the Hudson's Bay 
and Northwestern Companies on the other, was established by commissaries, by a 
line to commence at a cape or promontoty on the ocean in 58 degrees 31 minutes 
north latitude; to run thence south westwardly to latitude 49 north from the equator s 
and along that line indefinitely westward." 

f The act by which France ceded Louisiana to Spain was signed at Fontaine- 
Meau by the French minister, the Due de Choiseul, and the Spanish ambassador, 
the Marques de Grimaldi, on the 3d of November, 1762. It was ratified by the King 
of Spain on the 13th of the same month, and by the King of France on the '23d. 
These documents were kept secret until 1836, when copies of them were obtained 
from the Departments of Foreign Affairs of France and Spain, by the late J. M. 
White, of Florida; and translations of them by the writer of this memoir were sub- 
mitted to the Senate of the United States, and published by its order, in 1837. 
The act of cession throws ne light on the question as to the limits of Louisiana, 
j The words of the original, describing the territory ceded, are: "Sa Majeste tres 
Chretienne cede en toute propriete, purement et simplement, et sans aucune. excep- 
tion, a sa Majeste Catholique et a ses successeurs, a perpetuite, tout le pays connu 
sous le nom de la Louisiane 'unique la Nouvelle Orleans, et Tile dans laquelle cette 
idlie est situee." 

• 



[174] 152 

1803. nishes no means of determining what were the precise limits of 
Louisiana on the north or northwest, when that country came 
into the possession of the United States. The customs of civil- 
ized nations in such cases, however, authorize the assumption 
that those limits comprehended the whole region west of the Mis- 
sissippi drained by that river and its tributary streams; while the 
same customs prohibit the supposition that any territory west of 
the Rocky Mountains should be considered as part of Louisiana. 

Even before the cession of Louisiana to the United States had 
been completed, the prompt and sagacious Jefferson, then Presi- 
dent of the Republic, was preparing to have that part of the con- 
tinent examined by American agents. On the 18th of January,, 
1803, he addressed to the Congress of the United States a confi- 
dential message, recommending that means should be taken for 
that purpose without delay ; and his suggestions having been ap- 
proved, he commissioned Captains Meriwether Lewis and Wil- 
liam Clarke to carry his plan into execution. Those officers 
were instructed to explore the river Missouri and its principal 
branches to their sources, and then to seek and trace to its termi- 
nation in the Pacific, some stream, " whether the Columbia, the 
Oregon, the Colorado, or any other, which might offer the most 
direct and practicable water communication across the continent^ 
for the purposes of commerce."*" 

A few days after the delivery of these instructions to Lewis, as 
commander of the expedition, the news of tha cession of Louis- 
iana reached the United States, and he immediately set off for 
the west. Some difficulties, however, prevented his party from 
crossing the Mississippi in that year; and it was not until the 

1804. 14th of May, 1804, that they entered the Missouri, and began its 
ascent in boats. Their progress was necessarily slow; yet, before 
the end of October, they arrived in the country of the Mandan In- 
dians, where they remained until the following April, encamped 
at a place situated sixteen hundred miles from the mouth of the 

1805, Missouri. In the summer of 1805, they explored that river to its 
head -waters, among the Rocky Mountains, and, having crossed the 
great dividing-ridge, they found immediately beyond it a number 
of streams flowing westward. Upon one of these they embarked 
in canoes on the 7th of October, and were soon carried by its 
current into a river, which they called the Lewis, and which 
proved to be a principal branch of the Columbia. In a few days 
they reached the confluence of the Lewis with the other great 
branch named by them the Clarke; and on the 15th of Novem- 
ber they landed at Cape Disappointment, or Hancock's Point, on 
the northern side of the entrance of the Columbia into the Pacific, 
after a journey of more than four thousand miles from their place 
of departure. 

1806, The winter of 1 805-'6, was passed by Lewis and Clarke, and 

* These instructions may be found at length in the biographical sketch of Captain 
Lewis, written by Mr. Jefierson, and prefixed to the journal of the expedition, printed 
at Philadelphia in 1814. The message above mentioned is contained in the execu- 
tive proceedings of the Senate, vol. i, page 439. 



153 



[174] 



their followers, in an encampment on the south side of the Co- 1806. 
lumbia, near its mouth, which they called Fort Clatsop. The 

; savages, who were already accustomed to the presence of stran- 
gers, conducted themselves peaceably; and there was no want of 
food, such as conld be procured from the river or sea. On the 

! 13th of March, 1805, the Americans began their return to the 
United States, in canoes, which they rowed up the Columbia to 
its falls, situated about one hundred and twenty -five miles from 
the Pacific. Thence they continued their journey by land to the 
Rocky Mountains, which they crossed in two bodies by separate July, 
routes ; the one under Lewis striking directly eastward to the 
falls of the Missouri, while the other, conducted by Clarke, made 

I a southern march to the sources of the Yellow Stone, and de- 
scended that river to the Missouri. The parties were again united Aug. 12. 
just below the point of junction of those streams, and on the 23d 
of September they arrived at Saint Louis. 

The above sketch will serve to show the general course of the 
expedition of Lewis and Clarke; a more extended account of 
which would be either insufficient or superfluous. With regard 
to the priority of their discoveries, the plenipotentiaries of Great 
Britain, in the statement presented by them to the American 
minister, during the negotiation in 1826, make the following ob- 

j servations : 

" In reply to the allegations, on the part of the United States, 
that their claim to the country in question is strengthened and 
confirmed by the discovery of the sources of the Columbia, and 
by the exploration of the course of that river to the sea, by Lewis 
I and Clarke, in 1805-'6, Great Britain affirms, and can distinctly 
prove, that, if not before, at least in the same and subsequent 
years, her Northwest Trading Company had, by means of their 
agent Mr. Thompson, already established their posts among the , 
Flat-head and Kootanie tribes, on the head-waters or main branch 
of the Columbia, and were gradually extending them down the 
principal stream of that river; thus giving to Great Britain in 
this particular, as in the discovery of the mouth of the river, a 
title of parity at least, if not of priority of discovery, as opposed 
to the United States. It was from these posts that, having heard 
of the American establishment forming in 1811 at the mouth of 
the river, Mr. Thompson hastened thither, descending the river 
to ascertain the nature of that establishment." 

As the words " in the same and subsequent years''' are rather 
indefinite, the dates of the occurrences above mentioned will be 
stated somewhat more exactly. Lewis and Clarke reached the 
Pacific Ocean, after exploring the Columbia River from one of its 
most eastern head-waters in the Rocky Mountains to its mouth , on 
the 15th of November, 1805. In the spring of 1806, as will hereaf- 
ter be shown, Mr. Simon Frazer, and other persons in the employ- 
ment of the Northwest Company, crossed the Rocky Mountains, 
through the great gap near the 56th degree of latitude, and es- 
tablished the first British trading-post west of that chain, on 
Frazer's Lake, about two degrees farther south ; but no evidence 
has been obtained that British subjects had ever visited any part 



154 



W&6-. of the country drained by the Columbia, above the falls of that 
river, before the summer of 1811. In that year, Mr. Thompson,, 
astronomer of the Northwest Company, and his party, on their 
way down the stream, for the purpose of anticipating the Amer- 
icans at its mouth, did build some huts on the northern branch, 
and did there open trade with the Flat-head and Kootanie In- 
dians ; and from those posts Mr. Thompson did indeed hasten 
down to the ocean, where he, however, found the citizens of the 
United States in full possession. 

1807. Soon after the return of Lewis and Clarke, an effort was made 
by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain to fix 
the boundary between the possessions of the two Powers in 
America west of the Mississippi and the lakes. By the fifth ar- 
ticle of the convention, agreed on at London in April, 1807, be- 
tween Messrs. Monroe and Pinckney, on the one part, and the 
Lords Holland and Auckland, on the other, it was stipulated 
that " a line drawn due north or south (as the case may require) 
from the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods, until 
it shall intersect the 49th parallel of north latitude, and, from the 
point of such intersection, due west, along and with the said 
parallel, shall be the dividing-line between his Majesty's territo- 
ries and those of the United States, to the westward of the said 
lake, as far as their said respective territories extend in that quar- 
ter; and that the said line shall, to that extent, form the south- 
ern boundary of his Majesty's said territories and the northern 
boundary of the said territories of the United States : Provided^ 
That nothing in the present article shall be construed to extend 
to the northwest coast of America, or to the territories belonging 
to or claimed by either party on the continent of America to the 
westward of the Stoney Mountains." This article was approved 
by both Governments ; President Jefferson, nevertheless, wished 
that the proviso respecting the northwest coast should be omitted, 
as it # " could have little other effect than as an offensive intima- 
tion to Spain that the claims of the United States extend to the 
Pacific Ocean. However reasonable such claims may be, com- 
pared with those of others, it is impolitic, especially at the present 
moment, to strengthen Spanish jealousies of the United States, 
which it is probably an object with. Great Britain to excite, by the 
clause in question." The convention, however, was not con- 
cluded ; and no other negotiation, relative to boundaries west of 
the great lakes, took place between the British and American 
Governments until 1814. 

A narrative of the expedition of Lewis and Clarke, compiled 
from the journals of those officers and of some of their men, was 
published at Philadelphia in 1814; the most material circum- 
stances and discoveries, however, became generally known im- 
mediately after the return of the exploring party, and the infor- 
mation led to commercial enterprises on a large scale in the Uni- 
ted States and in British America. , Before noticing these enter- 



* Letter of July 30th, 1807, from Mr. Madison, then Secretary of State of the 
United States, to Messrs. Monroe and Pinckney. 



155 



[ 174 



prises more particularly, it should be mentioned, that ever since 1807. 
the conclusion of the treaty of commerce and navigation of 1794, 
between the United States and Great Britain, a considerable trade 
had been carried on by Americans with the Indians inhabiting 
the countries about the Upper Mississippi and Lake Superior. 
The returns from this traffic were made exclusively in furs, 
which were transported to New York, and thence shipped for 
London or Canton ; the business was conducted chiefly under 
the direction and by means pf the funds of John Jacob Astor, 
a German merchant of large capital residing in New York ; though 
many individuals in the western States and Territories of the re- 
public were engaged in it on their own account, especially after 
the acquisition of Louisiana, which opened a much wider field for 
their exertions. Still, the greater portion of the furs sent from 
America were those collected by the British trading companies, 
which were continually extending their establishments west- 
ward, and even southward, within the supposed limits of the 
United States, to the annoyance of the citizens of that republic. 
To all these individuals and associations the discoveries of 
Lewis and Clarke presented new views of advantages, which 
each endeavored without delay to appropriate. 

The British fur-traders made their first establishment beyond 1886. 
the Rocky Mountains in 1806. An expedition* for this purpose 
had been contemplated by them in the preceding year, in conse- 
quence of information respecting the views of the American Gov- 
ernment, obtained while Lewis and Clarke were spending the 
winter of 1804-'5 at the Mandan town on the Mississippi ; but it 



* The statements in this paragraph are derived principally from D. W. Harmon's 
Journal of his Voyages am<l Travels in the northern parts of America, published at 
And r »ver, in Vermont, in 18-20. Harmon was first a clerk, and afterwards a partner, 
in the Northwest Company, and for several years presided over all its establishments 
west of the Rocky Mountains. Some extracts from his journal may be here inserted. 

Saturday, November 24, 1804. — Some people have just arrived from Montague 
Ja Basse, with a letter from Mr. Chaboillez, who informs me that two captains, 
Clarke and Lewis, with one hundred and eighty soldiers, have arrived at the Man- 
dan village, on the Missouri River, which place is situated about three days' distance 
from the residence of Mr. Chaboillez. They have invited Mr. Chaboillez to visit 
them. It is said that, on their arrival, they hoisted the American flag, and informed 
the natives that their object was not to trade, but merely to explore the country; and 
that, as soon as the navigation shall open, they design to continue their route across 
the Rocky Mountains, and thence descend to the Pacific Ocean. 

Wednesday, April 10, 1805. — While atMontagne la Basse, Mr. Chaboillez induced 
me to consent to undertake a long and arduous tour of discovery. I am to leave 
that place about the beginning of June, accompanied by six or seven Canadians and 
two or three Indians. The first place at which we shall stop will be the Mandan 
vdlag-e, on the Missouri River; thence we shall steer our course towards the Rocky 
Mountains, accompanied by a number of the Mandan Indians, who proceed in that 
direction every spring, to meet and trade with another tribe ol Indians, who reside 
on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. [This journey I never undertook; a 
Mr. La Roque attempted to make this tour, but went no farther than the Mandan 
village.] 

At page 281 he says: "The part of the country west of the Rocky Mountains, 
with which I am acquainted, has ever since the Northwest Company first made an 
establishment there, which was in I80ti, gone by the name of New Caledonia," &c. 
In many parts of his work he speaks of Mr. Simon Frazer as having led the first 
party of traders beyond the Rocky Mountains in 1806. 

A review of the work may be found in the London Quarterly Review for Janua- 
ry, 1822. 



[174] 



156 



1806. was not carried into effect until the spring of 1806, when Mr. Si- 
mon Frazer, a partner of the Northwest Company, established a 
trading-post on Frazer's Lake, near the 54th parallel, in the 
country since called New Caledonia. 

The earliest attempts made by citizens of the United States, 
for similar purposes, were those of an association formed at St. 
Louis in 1808, called the Missouri Fur Company ; at its head 
was an enterprising Spaniard, named Manuel Lisa, through 
whose exertions, chiefly, several trading-posts were, within the 
two ensuing years, established on the Upper Missouri, and one 
beyond the Rocky Mountains, on the head- waters of the Lewis, 
the southern branch of the Columbia. The post on the Lewis 
appears to have been the first ever formed by white men in the 
country drained by the Columbia ; the enmity of the savages in 
its vicinity, and the difficulty of procuring a regular supply of 
food, however, obliged Mr. Henry, the superintendent, to aban- 
don it in 1810. 

1810. Another association, for the prosecution of the fur trade on the 
northwestern side of the continent, which was * formed at New 
York in 1810, requires particular notice, as the transactions con- 
nected with it have assumed a character decidedly political. This 
association was called the Pacific Fur Company. m Its originator 
was John Jacob Astor, the German merchant above mentioned, on 
whose commercial sagacity and efficiency it would be needless 
to dilate. He was, in fact, the company ; one-half of its shares 
were held, nominally at least, by other persons, but every meas- 
ure was dictated by him, and carried into effect by means of his 
capital. His plan was to establish trading-posts on the Colum- 
bia and its branches, as well as on the Pacific coasts and the 
head-waters of the Missouri, which were to be supplied with the 
necessary articles, either by way of the latter river, or from a 
principal factory, to be founded at the mouth of the Columbia,, 
whither all the furs collected at the other places were, at stated 
periods, to be brought. The principal factory was to receive 
goods by ships sent out annually from New York, which, hav- 
ing discharged their cargoes at the mouth of the Columbia, 
were to be reladen with furs for Canton, whence they would 
carry back to New York teas, silks, and other Chinese produc- 
tions. It was also contemplated that the Russian settlements on 



* The sketch of the history of the Pacific Company, which follows, has been de- 
rived from — 

I. Letter from J. J. Astor to Mr. Adams, then Secretary of State, dated January 
23, 1823, with documents annexed, published with President Monroe's message to 
Congress, of the 27th of the same month. Other letters, unpublished, from Mr. As- 
tor, have also been examined, and many curious detaiis have been received from 
him verbally. 

II. Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains: by 
Washington Irving; compiled chiefly from the papers of Mr. Astor. The work is 
too v. ell known to require farther observations respecting it. 

III. Adventures on the Columbia Rivet : by Ross Cox. The author had been em- 
ployed as a c erk in the Pacific Company, which he quitted for a similar situation 
under the Northwest Company ; his book contains many details relative to the fur 
trade and its establishment in the region of the Columbia. 



157 [174] 

the Pacific should be furnished by the company's vessels with 1810. 
such foreign articles as they required, furs being taken in ex- 
change ; and, in order to effect this more completely, as well as 
to prevent the occurrence of difficulties, which might otherwise 
be anticipated, an agent was despatched to St. Petersburgh, who 
concluded an arrangement securing to the Pacific Company, 
under certain conditions, the exclusive privilege of trading with 
the Russian American possessions. 

For the execution of these plans, Mr. Astor engaged, as part- 
ners in the concern, a number of persons, nearly all Scotchmen, 
who had been long in the service of the Northwest Company, 

1 together with some Americans and Canadians, who were ac- 
quainted with the fur trade. These partners were to conduct the 
business in the west, under the direction of a general agent, cho- 
sen by them for five years ; and they were to share among them- 
selves one half of the profits, the other half being retained by Mr. 
Astor, who advanced all the funds, and superintended the affairs 
at New York. The persons required for the inferior offices and 

\ employments having been also engaged, the first party quitted 
New York for the Columbia in September, 1810, in the ship 
Tonquin, commanded by Jonathan Thorn e ; in January follow- 
ing, the second detachment set out from St. Louis, on its way 

, across the continent, under the direction of Wilson Price Hunt, 
of New Jersey, who had been appointed general agent by the 
board of partners. The ship Enterprise, Captain Ebbetts, had 

J also been sent in 1809 to the North Pacific, to make prepara- 
tory researches and inquiries among the Russian settlements, 
and on the coasts which were to be the scenes of the new com- 
pany's operations. 

The Tonquin arrived at the mouth of the Columbia in March, 1811, 

1 1811; and, her goods and passengers having been there landed, March 23, 
she sailed towards the north in search of furs. Before her de- 
parture, a spot was chosen on the south bank of the river, eight 
miles from the ocean, as the site of the principal factory, which, 

; in compliment to the originator of the enterprise, was named 

1 Astoria. In the course of the ensuing summer, the most essen- 

i tial buildings were erected, gardens were planted, trade was be- 
gun with the natives, a small vessel was built and launched, and 
every thing appeared to promise success to the establishment. 

In July a detachment of persons in the service of the North- Jul}-, 
west Company arrived at Astoria, under the direction of Mr. 
Thompson, the astronomer of that association, who had left Mon- 
treal in the previous year, with the object of anticipating the new 
company in occupying the mouth of the Columbia. On their 
way down, they built huts and hoisted flags, and bestowed names 
on various spots, by way of taking possession , as they considered 
it, of the territory for their sovereign. They, hoAvever, arrived 
too late at the most important point ; and were obliged to retrace 
their course to the northward, having been received and treated 
with great attention at the factory by their old friends, Messrs. 
McDougall, Mackay, and Stuart, the partners of the Pacific 
Company, then directing its affairs in the west. From the in- 



[ 174] 



158 



1811. formation which has been obtained, it appears to be certain thai 
by this party were established the first British trading-posts on 
the Columbia ; and that they were, indeed, the first white men 
who ever navigated the northern branch of that river. 

In the course of this summer, also, several trading-posts were 
established by the Pacific Fur Company in the interior of the 
country; of which, the principal was one situated at the conflu- 
ence of a river, called the Okanagan, with the Columbia, about 
four hundred miles from the mouth of the latter. During the 
winter which followed, the people of Astoria were subjected to 
many discomforts, but nothing occurred calculated to lessen their 
hopes as to the ultimate success of the undertaking. 

Meanwhile, the other party of the Pacific Company's men, 
proceeding from St. Louis, under Mr. Hunt, ascended the Mis- 
souri, to the country of the Arickara Indians, near the Great Bend 
of the river, and thence pursued their journey by land to the 
Rocky Mountains. After passing this ridge, near the 45th de- 
gree of latitude, they descended one of the branches of the 
Lewis, (probably that now called Salmon River,) to the Columbia, 
and reached Astoria in the spring of 1812, having undergone 
innumerable difficulties from cold, fatigue, and want of food. 
Scarcely had they arrived at the factory, when news was received 
- of the destruction of the ship Tonquin and her whole crew, with 
the exception of the Indian interpreter, at one of the inlets near 
Nootka Sound ; the crew were overpowered by the savages, who 
killed the greater part of them immediately, and the vessel was 
then blown up by the clerk and others who had taken refnge in 
the hold. This disaster was calculated to depress the hopes of 
the persons engaged in the enterprise ; their courage, however, 
appears to have been undiminished, and they pursued their la- 
bors diligently, being confident that the company (that is to say, 
Mr. Astor) could bear much heavier pecuniary losses without in- 
jury to its credit. 

1812. In May, 1812, the Astorians were still farther encouraged, by 
May 9. the arrival of the ship Beaver from New York with supplies and 

reinforcements ; and it was determined (unfortunately for the 
cause, as will afterwards appear) that Mr. Hunt should sail in 
her to the northern coasts, and visit the Russian settlements, in 
order to see what commercial intercourse could be carried on 
with them. He accordingly took his departure in that vessel in 
Aug. August, leaving the affairs of the factory under the direction of 
Mr. Duncan McDougall, one of the Scotch partners, who had 
been so long in the service of the Northwest Company. 

1813. In January, 1813, the news of the declaration of war by the 
January. United States against Great Britain reached Astoria, where it Avas 

brought by persons sent for the purpose from New York ; and, in 
the course of June following, Mr. McTavish, one of the partners 
of the Northwest Company, arrived at the factory from Canada, 
bringing rumors of the approach of a British naval force to take 
possession of the mouth of the Columbia. These announce- 
ments appear to have been received with satisfaction by 3Ir. 
McDougall and his brother Britons, three of whom (including 



159 



[ 174 J 



Ross Cox, the author of Six Years on the Columbia) immedi- 1813. 
ately quitted the service of the Pacific Company, and entered 
that of the rival association; while the others almost unanimously 
agreed to abandon the enterprise, unless they should speedily re- 
ceive assistance and supplies from New York. 

From New York, however, nothing came. The ship Lark had 
been despatched by Mr. Astor with articles and men for Astoria ; 
but she was wrecked near the coast of one of the Sandwich 
Islands, in the latter part of 1813. The Government of the Uni- 
ted States had also determined, in consequence of Mr. Astor's 
representations, to send the frigate Adams to the north Pacific, 
for the protection of the infant settlement; but, just as she was 
about to sail from New York, it became necessary to transfer her 
crew to Lake Ontario, and the blockade of the American ports by 
British fleets rendered all farther efforts to convey succors to As- 
toria unavailing. 

Soon after the partners of the Pacific Company had formed the 
resolution, as above mentioned, to abandon the concern unless 
they should receive assistance, Mr. Hunt, the chief agent, re- Aug. 30. 
turned to Astoria in the ship Albatross. He had spent the sum- 
mer of 1812 in visiting the Russian settlements at Sitca, Una- 
lashka, and Kodiak, and had collected a valuable cargo of furs, 
which were carried to Canton in the Beaver. Hunt, however, 
accompanied that ship no farther than to the Sandwich Islands, 
where he was informed of the war between the United States 
and Great Britain ; and, being anxious to convey the news with- 
out delay to Astoria, he chartered the ship Albatross of Boston, 
which was then lying at Wahoo, and proceeded in her to the 
Columbia. He was at first astounded at the resolution adopted 
by the other partners, but he was at length induced to concur 
with them as to its propriety ; and, after remaining a few days, 
he again sailed 'to the south Pacific, in the Albatross, for the pur- Aug. -26. 
pose of finding some ship to convey the furs, then stored in the 
factory, to Canton. At Nooahevah, (one of the Washington 
Islands, discovered by Ingraham in 1791,) he learned that a Nor. 
British squadron, under Commodore Hillyer, was on its way to 
the Pacific, in order to occupy the mouth of the Columbia ; upon 
receiving this news, he hastened to the Sandwich Islands, and, 
having there chartered the American brig Pedlar, he sailed' in 
her for Astoria, where he arrived on the 28th of February, 1814. 

The fate of the Pacific Company, and of its establishments in 
Northwest America, had, however, been decided ere the arrival 
of the Pedlar in the Columbia. 

On the Tth of October a body of men in the service of the Oct. T. 
Northwest Company came down the river to Astoria, under the 
direction of Messrs. McTavish and Stuart. They arrived with- 
out either ammunition or provisions, while the people of the 
factory, who nearly equalled them in number, were well sup- 
plied in every respect, and their fortifications and heavy guns 
would have enabled them to withstand any attacks which might 
have been anticipated under ordinary circumstances. The new 
comers, however, brought information, upon which the partners 



[ 174] 



HO 



1813. at Astoria could depend, and which proved to be perfectly correct^ 
that a large armed ship, the Isaac Todd, had been fitted out at 
London, by the Northwest Company, and was on her way to the 
Columbia, under convoy of a frigate, with the object of taking 
and destroying every thing American in that quarter. Messrs. 
McTavish and Stuarl, on communicating this news, to which 
they added accounts of the complete blockade of the coasts of the 
United States by British squadrons, at the same time proposed to 
purchase the whole of the establishments, furs, and other proper- 
ty of the Pacific Company, in the territory of the Columbia, at 
prices to be fixed by common consent; they also offered to engage 
in the service of the Northwest Company any of the persons at- 
tached to the American concern, at the same wages which they 
were then receiving, and to send back to the United States such 
as might not choose to be thus employed. To these propositions 
the partners at Astoria resolved to assent; and an agreement was 
accordingly signed, between them and the chiefs of the other 

Oct. 16. party, on the 16th of the month, by which " all the establish- 
ments, furs, and property" above mentioned, were sold to the 
Northwest Company, for about forty thousand dollars, given in 
4 the shape of bills on Montreal.* 

The business appears to have been managed, on the side of 
the Pacific Company, almost entirely by Mr. McDougall, whose 
conduct on many occasions, during the transaction, as well as 
afterwards, was such as to induce suspicions that he was actu- 
ated by improper motives of self-interest. It is, however, diffi- 
cult to determine what other course ought to have been pursued 
by him and the other partners, under existing circumstances. 
They might, indeed, have held out their stockaded fort against 
the enemy, or have effected a retreat with their property to some 
place in the interior ; but this would have been to no purpose, 
while they could expect neither to receive supplies of goods for 
trading from the United States, nor to send their furs for sale to 
Canton. Mr. Astor declares that he would have preferred the loss 
of the place and property by a fair capture to a sale which he 
considered disgraceful ; and those who know him well are con- 
vinced that he speaks as he feels. But mercantile men are, in 
general, supposed to consider discretion among their agents as 
the better part of valor; and McDougall may have reasonably 
considered himself bound to act rather for the interests than for 
the glory of the Pacific Company. 

Dec. 1. While the business of the transfer of the furs and merchandise 
at Astoria was in progress, the British sloop of war Racoon en- 
tered the Columbia, under the command of Captain Black, who 
had hastened thither in hope of securing a rich share of plunder 
by the capture of the fort and magazines of the Pacific Com- 
pany. He found the flag of the United States waving over the 



* This contract may be found at length in the American State Papers, edited by 
Lowrie and Franklin, (Miscellaneous,) vol. ii, page 1011. The fourth article con- 
tains a complete list of all " the establishments, furs, and slock on hand" with their 
respective valuation; the buildings are valued at £200. 



161 



[174] 



factory, which was surrendered, immediately on his appearance, 1813. 
by the chief agent McDougall ; but the furs and goods which 
were to reward himself and his crew for their exertions, had be- 
come the property of their own fellow-subjects, and were then 
floating up the river in the barges of the Northwest Company. 
The captain of the Racoon could, therefore, only lower the flag Dec. 12. 
of the United States, and hoist that of Britain over the factory, 
the name of which he at the same time, and with due solemnity , 
changed to Fort George. These duties being completed, he took 
his departure for the south.* 

Three months afterwards, (that is, on the 28th of February, 1814. 
1814,) Mr. Huntf arrived at the Columbia in the brig Pedlar, Feb - 28 - 
which he had, as already stated, chartered for the purpose of con- 
veying the property of the Pacific Company to Canton. He 
found Mr. McDougall in charge of the factory, not, however, as 
an agent of that company, but as a partner of the Northwest 
Company, into which he had been already admitted ; and Hunt 



* It will be interesting, if not useful, here to insert the account of the capture of 
Astoria, as related by Ross Cox, who received his infoimaiion at the place, shortly 
after the event. 

"Captain Black took possession of Astoria in the name of his Britannic Majesty, 
and rebapazed it by the name of 1 Port George.' He also insisted on having an in- 
ventory taken of the valuable stock of furs, and ail oilier property purchased from 
the American company, with a view to the adoption oi ulterior proceedings in Eng- 
land for the recovery 01 the value lrom the Nonhwesi Company ; but he subsequent- 
ly relinquished this idea, and we heard no more about his claims. Ttie Indians at 
the mouth of tue Columbia Knew well that Great Biitain and Ameiica were dis- 
tinct nations, and that they were then at war, but were ignorant of the arrangement 
made between Messrs. McDougall and Mc favish, the lormer of whom su 11 con- 
tinued as nominal chief at the fort. On the arrival of the Racoon, which they 
quickly discovered to be one ol 'King George's fighting ships,' they repaired armed 
to the fort, and requested an audience of Mr. M Dougail. He was somewhat sur- 
prised at their numbers and warlike appearance, and demanded the object of such 
an unusual visit. Comcomiy, the pnn< ipal chief of the Chinooks, (whose daughter 
McDougall had mariied,) thereupon addressed hi.n m a long speech; in the couise 
of which he said that King George had sent a ship full of warriuis, and loaded 
with iiOt.iing but big guns, to take the Americans and make them all slaves, and that, 
as they (the Americans) were the first white men who settled in their country, 
and treated the Indian ^ uke good relations, they had resolved to defend them from 
King George's warriors, and were now ready 10 conceal themselves in the woods 
close to the wharf, from whence they would be able with their guns and arrows to 
shoot all the men that should attempt to land from the English boats, while the 
people in the fort could fire at them with their big guns and rifles. This proposi- 
tion was uttered with an earnestness of manner that admitted no doubt 01 i s sin- 
cerity ; two armed boats from the Racoon were approaching, and, had the people 
in the fort felt disposed to accede to the wishes ol the Indians, every man in them 
would have been des royed by an invisible enemy. Mr. McDougall thanked them 
for their friendly offer ; but added, that notwithstanding the nations were at war, 
the people in the boats would not injure him or any ol his people, and, therefore, 
requested them to throw by their war shirts and arms, and receive the strangers as 
their friends. They at first seemed astonished at this answer; but, on assuring them 
in the most positive manner that he was under no apprehensions, they consented to 
give up their weapons for a few days. They afterwards declared they were sorry 
for having complied with Mr. McDougall's wishes; for when they observed Cap- 
tain Black, surrounded by his officers and marines, break the botte of port on the 
flag staff, and hoist the British ensign after changing the name of the fort, they re- 
marked that, however we might wish to conceal the fact, the Americans were un- 
doubtedly made slaves; and they were not convinced ot their mistake until the sloop 
of war had departed without taking any prisoners." 

t Mr. Hunt is now the postmaster at St. Louis, 



[ 174 ] 



162 



1814. had, therefore, merely to close the concerns of the former associa- 
tion in that part of America, and to receive the bills given in pay- 
ment for its effects. Having done this, he re-embarked in the 
Pedlar; and, taking with him three of his former companions in 
trade, he sailed for the United States, by way of Canton. Of 
sthe other persons who had been connected with this enterprise, 
some engaged in the service of the Northwest Company, and 
some returned across the continent to the United States. 

Such was the termination of the Astoria enterprise, for no at- 
tempt has been since made by the Pacific Company, or by any 
of its members, to form a trading establishment on the north- 
west coast of America. The scheme was most wisely projected, 
and its failure can scarcely be attributed to any circumstances, 
the occurrence of which might have been anticipated when its 
execution was begun. That ships might be lost at sea, and that 
the adventurers might suffer from cold, or hunger, or the attacks 
of savages — casualties such as those were to be expected, and 
provision was made against them ; but in 1810, when the Ton- 
quin sailed from New York, no one anticipated that before the 
end of two years the, United States would have been at war with 
the most powerful maritime nation in the world. The war trav- 
ersed every part of the plan. Communications between the ports 
of the United States and the Columbia by sea, were rendered 
difficult and uncertain ; while those by land were of little advan- 
tage, and were liable to interruption by the Northwest Company; 
besides which, the furs could no longer be transported with safety 
to Canton. Moreover, all the most active and skilful persons in 
the employment of the Pacific Company, except Mr. Hunt, were 
British subjects, whose feelings of attachment for their native 
land and its cause naturally rendered them discontented, when 
they were thus placed, in a manner, conspicuously among the 
ranks of its enemies. If Mr. Astor may be considered as having' 
acted imprudently in any part of his arrangement, it was certain- 
ly in engaging so large a proportion of persons unconnected with 
the United States by birth, citizenship, or feelings, in the forma- 
tion of establishments which were so essentially American in 
character and objects. That those establishments should have 
fallen, must be a subject of regret to every American, as there 
can be little if any doubt that, had they been maintained until 
the termination of the war, the enterprise would have succeeded, 
and the whole region drained by the Columbia would now be in 
the quiet and undisputed possession of the people of the United 
States. 



163 



[174] 



CHAPTER IX. 

Restoration of the settlement at the mouth of the Columbia to the United Slates, 
agreeably to the treaty of Ghent, and subsequent assertions ol ihe British Govern- 
ment with regard to that act — Convention of October, 1818, between Great Britain 
and the United States, relative to the countries west of the Rocky Mountains — 
Florida treaty between Spain and the United Stales, concluded in 1819 — Remarks 
on the convention of 1790 — Proceedings in the Congress of ihe United States rel- 
ative to the northwest coasts, in the year 18 - 20 and in subsequent years — Measures 
adopted by Great Britain with regard to those territories, in 1821— Act of Pari iament 
estab ishmg jurisdiction of British courts throughout the Indian countries of North 
America — Coalition of the Hudson's Bay and the Northwest Companies— Decree 
of the Russian -Emperor in 1821, and negotiations betwe n the Governments of 
the United States, Great Britain, and Russia, for the settlement of their several 
claims — Conventions of 1824 between Russia and the United States, and of 1825 
between Russia and Great Britain — Renewal, in 1827, of the convention of 1818 
between Great Britain and the United States — Negotiation between the American 
and the Russian Governments relative to the renewal of the fourth article of the 
convention of 1824. 

The capture of Astoria was not known to the plenipotentiaries 1814. 
of the United States at Ghent, when they signed the treaty of 
December 24, 1814. That treaty contained no allusion to boun- 
daries west of the Lake of the Woods; the subject, however, had 

i been discussed during the negotiation, and the American minis- 
ters were instructed by their Government to consent to no claim 
on the part of Great Britain to the post at the mouth of the Co- 
lumbia, or to any other territory south of the line forming the 
northern boundary of the United States, which was considered 
as running along the 49th parallel of latitude. The representa- 
tives of the Republic at Ghent accordingly proposed that the said 
parallel should form the dividing-line between the British terri- 
tories on the north and those of the United States on the south, 
to the westward of the Lake of the Woods, "as far as the said re- 
spective territories extend in that quarter : Provided, That nothing 
in the present article shall be construed to extend to the north- 
west coast of America, or to the territories belonging to, or claim- 
ed by, either party on the continent of America, to the westward 
of the Stoney Mountains." The British accepted the proposi- 
tion ; but they insisted on adding to it a stipulation, that their 

i subjects should at all times have access through the territories of 
the United States to the Mississippi, and the right of navigating 
that river; which being rejected by the Americans, the subject of 
boundaries west of the Lake of the Woods was dropped. 

m By the first article of the treaty of Ghent, it was nevertheless 
agreed, " that all territory, places, and possessions whatsoever, . 



* See President Monroe's message to Congress of April 11, 1815, with the docu- 
ments annexed; also, the statement presented by the Biit^h ministers at London to 
Mr. Gallatin, on the "26th of December. 1826, among the documents accompanying 
President Adams's message to the House of Representatives of March 15, 1828, 



[ 174] 



164 



1815. taken by either party from the other during or after the war" ex- 
cept certain islands in the Atlantic claimed by both, " should be 
restored, without delay;" and Mr. Monroe, then Secretary of State 
of the United States, accordingly announced to the British charge 
d'affaires at Washington, in July, 1815, the intention of the Pres- 
ident to cause the post at the mouth of the Columbia to be re- 
occupied immediately. No measure for that purpose was, how- 

1817. ever, taken until the latter part of 1817, when Mr. J. B. Prevost 
and Captain J. Biddle, the commander of the sloop of war Onta- 
rio, were jointly commissioned to proceed to the mouth of the 
Columbia, and there to assert the claim of the United States to 
the sovereignty of the country, in a friendly and peaceful man- 
ner, and without the employment offeree. Mr. Astor had, in the 
mean time, made several applications to the Government for its 
aid towards the re-establishment of his factories in that quarter; 
and it was chiefly in consequence of his solicitations that these 
measures were adopted. 

The Ontario sailed from New York for the Pacific on the 4th 
of October, 1817, under the command of Captain Biddle, carrying 
out also the other commissioner, Mr. Prevost. In the following 
month Mr. Bagot, the British envoy at Washington, addressed to 
the Secretary of State some inquiries respecting the destination 
of that ship, and the objects of her voyage; and having been in- 
formed on those points, he, in a succeeding communication, re- 
No v\ 26. monstrated against any attempt by the United States to occupy 
the country adjacent to the Columbia, contending that the whole 
region belonged to Great. Britain, "having been early taken pos- 
session of in his Majesty's name, and been ever since considered 
as part of his Majesty's dominions ;" and that the establishment 
there made by American citizens had been voluntarily abandon- 
ed, "under an agreement with the Northwest Company, which 
had purchased their effects, and had ever since retained peaceable 
possession of the coast." 

1818. As soon as the news of the departure of the Ontario and of the 
objects of her voyage reached London, Lord Bathurst, the British 
Secretary for the Colonial Department, despatched an order to the 
agents of the Northwest Company at the mouth of the Columbia, 
directing them to give due facility for the re-occupation of that 

Jan. 26. settlement by the officers of the United States, in pursuance of 
the first article of the treaty of Ghent; and a similar order was 
sent from the Admiralty to the commander of the British naval 

Feb. l. forces in the Pacific. About the same time, Lord Castlereagh 
proposed to Mr. Rush, the American envoy at London, that the 
question respecting the possession of the post on the Columbia 
should be referred to commissioners. To this Mr. Rush objected, 
on the simple grounds that the spot was in the possession of the 
United States before the war, and that it fell by belligerent cap- 
ture into the hands of Great Britain during the war; which facts 
being notorious, there could be no doubt that it should be re- 
stored agreeably to the treaty. Lord Castlereagh, upon this, ad- 
mitted the full right of the Americans to be reinstated, and to be 
the party in possession while treating of the title ; although he 



165 



[ 174] 



expressed his regret at the manner adopted by the United States 1818. 
to obtain the restitution, which he feared might occasion some dif- February, 
ficulty. Mr. Rush assured him that the intentions of the Ameri- 
can Government were in every respect amicable, and that partic- 
ular care had been taken to avoid all cause of ill feeling. 

# The Ontario entered the Pacific early in 1818; and it was 
agreed between the two commissioners, that Captain Biddle 
should proceed in her to the Columbia, and take possession of the 
territory, while Mr. Prevost should remain in Chili to attend to 
some other business. Conformably with this arrangement, Bid- 
die sailed to the Columbia, which he entered in August; and on 
the 19th of that month he, without any opposition, displayed the 
flag of the United States, and asserted their claims to the river 
and the surrounding territory; after which ceremonies, he re- 
turned to the South Pacific. 

In the mean time Commodore Bowles, commanding the Brit- 
ish naval forces in the river of La Plata, received an order from 
his Government to aid in the surrender of the post on the Co- 
lumbia to any American officer who might be commissioned to 
receive it. This order Was transmitted, with directions to see it July, 
executed, to Captain Sheriff, the senior officer of the British ships 
in the Pacific, who detached Captain F. Hickey in the frigate 
Blossom for that purpose ; and the latter gentleman, meeting Mr. 
Prevost at Valparaiso, offered him a passage to the northwest 
coast, with the object of effecting the proposed transfer. The 
American commissioner accepted the offer, and embarked in the 
Blossom in August. On the 1st of October the ship entered the 
Columbia; and on the 6th, the settlement of Fort George, or As- 
toria, was surrendered to Mr. Prevost, in due form, by Captain 
Hickey, and James Keith, the superintendent for the Northwest 
Company at this place. 

That no reservation of rights on the part of Great Britain was 
made on this occasion, the following copies of the acts of delivery 
and acceptance, the only documents which passed, will fully 
show. The act of delivery is as follows : 

" In obedience to the commands of his Royal Highness the 
Prince Regent, signified in a despatch from the right honorable 
the Earl Bathurst, addressed to the partners or agents of the 
Northwest Company, bearing date the 27th of January, 1818, and 
in obedience to a subsequent order, dated the 26th of July, from 
W. H. Sheriff, Esq., captain of his Majesty's ship Andromache, 
we, the undersigned, do, in conformity to the first article of the 
treaty of Ghent, restore to the Government of the United States, 
through its agent, J. B. Prevost, Esq., the settlement of Fort 
George, on the Columbia River. Given under our hands, in trip- 
licate, at Fort George, (Columbia River,) this 6th day of October, 
1818. — F, Hickey, Captain of his Majesty's ship Blossom. 
J. Keith, of the Northwest Company" 



* The following account of the restoration of the settlement at the mouth of the 
Columbia to the United States, is taken from Mr. Prevost's letter to the Secretary of 
State, written from Monterey, November 11, 1818, and published with President 
Monroe's message to Congress of April 17 ? 1822. 



166 



1818. To which Mr. Prevost returned this acceptance ; 

I do hereby acknowledge to have this day received, in behalf 
of the Government of the United States, the possession of the 
settlement designated above, in conformity to the first article of 
the treaty of Ghent. Given under my hand, in triplicate, at Fort 
George, (Columbia River.) this 6th of October, 1818. 

"J. B. Prevost, Agent for the United States." 

It was nevertheless maintained by the British plenipotentiaries 
at London, in 1S26, during the negotiation between their Gov- 
ernment and that of the United States relative to the northwest 
territories — that the restitution of Astoria could not have been 
demanded as a right by the Americans, agreeably to the treaty of 
Ghent, because the place was not a national possession, nor a 
military post, and it was not taken during war ; but that, in order 
to prevent any imputation on the good faith of Great Britain, the 
most liberal extension had been given to the terms of the treaty ; 
and, in 1818, the purchase which the British company had made 
in 1 SI 3, was restored to the United States; but that particular 
care was taken, on the occasion of this restitution, to prevent any 
misapprehension as to the extent of the concession. Whether or 
not Astoria were a national possession, according to the rales of 
civilized nations in general, it is unnecessary to inquire, as there 
can be no doubt that it was such, agreeably to the principles al- 
ways supported by Great Britain. In proof of this, nothing more 
is necessaiy than to repeat, that the chief cause of the dispute 
between that Power and Spain, in 1790, was the occupation by 
Spain of a territory on the northwest coast, which was supposed 
to have previously become the property of British subjects. 
Whether the establishment of the Columbia were a military post, 
or not, was of no consequence, as the treaty provided for the res- 
toration of "all territory, places, and possessions, whatever, taken 
by either party from the other during the war and that the said 
establishment was so taken by the British from the Americans, 
has been already sufficiently shown. The flag of the United 
States was flying over the fort at Astoria, on the 12th of Decem- 
ber, 1813, when the British ship Raccoon appeared in the Colum- 
bia; and it was hauled down by the commander of that vessel, 
after the surrender of the place by the chief agent, McDougall. 
The sale of the effects of the Pacific Fur Company to the British 
traders, at a moment when an overpowering force was daily ex- 
pected, cannot be. in justice, regarded in any other light than as a 
capitulation, such as are frequently made during war. for the pur- 
pose of preserving lives or property, which might otherwise be 
destroyed. Circumstances precisely similar might have occurred, 
if Astoria had been situated in Virginia or Maine ; but would the 
British have been thereby justified in retaining the sovereignty 
of the place ? 

In proof of the assertion that particular care had been taken on 
the occasion of this restitution " to prevent any misapprehension 
as to the extent of the concession made by Great Britain, " the 
British plenipotentiaries cited — first, a despatch from Lord Castle- 



167 



[ 174] 



reagh to the British envoy at Washington, dated February 4, 1818, isi8. 
in which he says : " You will observe, that whilst this Govern- 
ment is not disposed to contest with the American Government 
; the point of possession, as it stood in the Columbia River, at the 
| moment of the rupture, they are not prepared to admit the valid- 
ity of the title of the Government of the United States, to this set- 
tlement. In signifying, therefore, to Mr. Adams the full acqui- 
escence of your Government in the re-occupation of the limited 
position which the United States held in that river at the break- 
| ing out of the war, you will, at the same time, assert in suitable 
terms the claim of Great Britain to that territory, upon which the 
American settlement must be considered an encroachment." 

The plenipotentiaries add, that " this instruction was executed 
verbally by the person to whom it was addressed;" and they next 
cite the despatch from Earl Bathurst to the partners or agents of 
the Northwest Company, mentioned in the act of delivery, of 
which the following copy is taken from their statement : 

" Downing street, January 27, 1818. 

" Intelligence having been received that the United States 
sloop of war Ontario has been sent by the American Government 
to establish a settlement on the Columbia River, which was held 
by that State on the breaking out of the last war, I am to acquaint 
you that it is the Prince Regent's pleasure, (without, however, 
admitting the right of that Government to the possession in ques- 
tion,) that, in pursuance of the first article of the treaty of Ghent, 
I due facility should be given to the re-occupation of the said set- 
i tlement by the officers of the United States ; and I am to desire 
that you would contribute, as much as lies in your power, to the 
i execution of his Royal Highness's commands. I have, &c. &c. 

" Bathurst." 

"The above documents," conclude the plenipotentiaries, with 
reference to the two despatches and the act of delivery, which 
are simply inserted as above in their statement, without remark, 
" put the case of the restoration of Fort Astoria in too clear a, 

|| light to require farther observation;" and certainly nothing more 
appears to be wanting, in order " to prevent any misapprehension 
as to the extent of the concession made by Great Britain." The 

! only communication received by the American agent on the oc- 
casion of the surrender of the post, is explicit : " We, the under- 
signed, do, in conformity to the first article of the treaty of Ghent, 
restore to the Government of the United States the settlement of 
Fort George, on the Columbia?'' The restoration is made posi- 
tively and unconditionally, by persons duly commissioned, in 

1 obedience to the command of the head of the British nation; and 
the meaning of this public act cannot be affected by any private 
communications which the British ministers may have addressed 
to their own agents. With those private despatches the United 
States have no concern ; and the attempt to represent them as 
reservations of right on the part of Great Britain to the very ter- 
ritory which she was then restoring to the United States in pur- 
suance of a treaty, is alike at variance with the common sense 



[174] 



168 



1818. and the common morals of the day. No arguments are required 
to show that, if such reservations were allowable, all engagements- 
would be nugatory, and all raith at an end. With regard to the 
protest said to have been conveyed verbally by the British envoy 
at Washington to the American Secretary of State, Mr. Gallatin 
justly observed, in his reply, that " it is not declared how the 
communication was received, nor whether the Government of the 
United States consented to accept the restitution with the reser- 
vation." It is, moreover, by no means consonant with the cus- 
toms of civilized nations, at present, to treat verbally on points so 
important as those of territorial sovereignty ; or to consider as suf- 
ficient, protests and exceptions made in that manner, and adduced 
long afterwards, without acknowledgment or evidence from the 
party to which they are said to have been addressed. 

Immediately after the completion of this transfer, Mr. Keiu% 
the agent of the factory, presented a letter to Mr. Prevost, con- 
taining inquiries — whether the Government of the United States 
would insist upon the relinquishment of Fort George to any 
American citizens, before the final decision of the question as to 
the sovereignty of the territory ; and whether, in the event of 
such decision being in favor of the United States, their Govern- 
ment would indemnify the company for any extension of busi- 
ness, or ameliorations, which might in the interim be made. Mr. 
Prevost, having no instructions on those points, could only reply 
as he did, to the effect that his Government would doubtless, in 
any event, satisfy such claims on the part of the Northwest Com- 
pany as should be justified by the usages of nations. # 

YVhile these measures for the restitution of Astoria were in 
progress,! a negotiation was carried on at London between the 
British and American Governments, one of the objects of which 
was to settle definitively the boundaries west of the Lake of the 
Woods, left undetermined by the treaty of Ghent. Messrs. Rush 
and Gallatin, the plenipotentiaries of the United States, proposed 
that the dividing-line should be drawn from the northwestern 
extremity of that lake (north or south, as the case might be) to 
the 49th parallel of latitude, and -from the point of intersection 
westward to the Pacific ; it being expressed, that the agreement 
was intended only for the parties themselves, without reference 
or prejudice to the claims of any other Power. To this Messrs. 
Goulburn and Robinson, the British commissioners, would con- 
sent only in part; and they endeavored to annex the condition, 
that British subjects should have access to the Mississippi, (the 



* Agreeably to the plan and description of Fort George, sent by Mr. Prevost to 
the Department of State, but not published with his letter, the factory consisted (in 
1818) of a stockade, enclosing a parallelogram of one hundred and fifty feet by two 
hundred and fifty feet, extending, in its greatest length, from northwest to southeast. 
Within this enclosure were all the buildings attached to the establishment, such as 
dwelling-houses, stores, mechanics' shops, &c. On the fort were mounted two 18- 
pounders, four 4-pounders, two 6-pound cohorns, and seven swivels. The number 
of persons belonging to the factory, besides a few women and children, was sixty- 
five; of whom twenty-three were whites, twenty-six Sandwich Islanders, and the 
remainder persons of mixed blood from Canada. 

t President Monroe's message of December 29, 1818, and accompanying docu- 
ments. 



169 



[ 1?4] 



sources of which lie south of the said parallel,) and the liberty of 1818. 
navigating that river to the sea. The Americans having, how- 
ever, positively refused to subscribe to such a condition, it was 
not pressed farther; and an article was agreed on, by which the 
49th parallel was fixed as the dividing-line, from the Lake of the 
Woods, or the meridian of its northwest extremity, to the Rocky 
Mountains. 

The claims of the respective nations to territories bordering on 
the Pacific were then discussed separately. Messrs. Rush and 
Gallatin cited, in support of those of the United States, the facts 
of the discovery of the Columbia, of its first exploration from its 
source to the ocean, and of the formation of the first establish- 
ments in the country through which it flows, by American citi- 
zens ; they " did not assert that the United States had a perfect 
right to this eountry," but they " insisted that their claim was at 
least good against Great Britain." Messrs. Goulburn and Rob- 
inson, on the other hand, affirmed that the discoveries of British 
navigators, especially those of Cook, and purchases made from 
the natives south of the Columbia, (when and by whom they 
-did not state,) had given to Great Britain claims in that part of 
America superior to any which could be deduced from the al- 
leged discoveries and establishments of citizens of the United 
States ; " they made no formal proposition for a boundary, but in- 
timated that the Columbia was the most convenient that could 
be adopted ; and they would agree to none which did not give 
them the harbor at the mouth of that river, in common with the 
■United States." As the pretensions of the parties were more fully 
developed, it became more probable that they would not agree 
upon any arrangement for the partition of the country west of the 
Rocky Mountains ; and it was at length determined — that all ter- Oct. 
ritories claimed by the United States or by Great Britain, between 
the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific, should, with their harbors, 
bays, and rivers, be free and open for ten years to the vessels, 
subjects, or eitizens of both nations ; it being, at the same time, 
expressly understood that the said agreement was not to be con- 
strued to affect or prejudice the claims of either party, or of any 
other Power, to any portion of those territories.* 

This compromise was, perhaps, the wisest which could have 
been made at the time, considering that neither of the parties had, 
or pretended to have, a perfect title to any portion of the territories 
in question, and there was then no probability that an arrange- 
ment would be effected respecting those territories between either, 
and the third or principal claimant, Spain. The convention 
eould not have been considered unfavorable to the United States, 
as the British Government had previously given orders for the 
restoration of the important post at the mouth of the Columbia, 
which had been taken from their citizens during the war. There 
was e very reason to suppose that this post would be immediately 



* See the second and third articles of the convention of 1818 between the United 
States .and Great Britain, in the Laws and in the Diplomatic Code of the United 
States- and in the Appendix [F] to this memoir. 



[ 174] 



170 



1818. re-occupied by those to whom it belonged, and that the power 
and population of the Americans in the northwest side of the 
continent would thenceforth be constantly increasing. 

With regard to the assertion by the British commissioners of 
claims of Great Britain, founded on discoveries and purchases of 
her subjects on the northwest coasts, it is scarcely necessary to 
repeat, that neither Cook nor any other British navigator discov- 
ered any part of those coasts south of the 49th degree of latitude, 
the Spaniards having explored them all before they were seen by 
the people of any other civilized nation. Nor does history fur- 
nish accounts of any acquisition of territory from the natives in 
that quarter by British subjects, except in the case of Drake, 
whose acceptance of the " crown, sceptre, and dignity" of the 
country about Port San Francisco, in 1579, the commissioners 
could not have intended to urge seriously, in 1818, as the basis of 
a claim to the possession of the region drained by the Columbia. 

The Government of the United States was, In the same year, 
engaged in a negotiation with that of Spain, in which the ques- 
tion of territorial limits on the northwest side of America was also 
discussed. Upon this subject the Spanish minister, Don Luis 
Jan. 5. de Onis, began by declaring that a the right and dominion of the 
Crown of Spain to the northwest coast of America, as high as 
the Californias, is certain and indisputable; the Spaniards having 
explored it as far as the 47th degree, in the expedition under Juan 
de Fuca, in 1592, and in that under Admiral Fonte, to the 55th 
degree, in 1640. The dominion of Spain in these vast regions 
being thus established, and her rights of discovery, conquest, 
and possession being never disputed, she could scarcely possess 
a property founded on more respectable principles, whether of the 
law of nations, of public law, or of any others which serve as a 
basis to such acquisitions as compose all the independent king- 
doms and states of the earth."* On these assertions, (each of 
which was calculated to excite a smile,) the American Secretary 
of State, Mr. J. Q,. Adams, who conducted the negotiation on the 
part of his Government, did not think proper to offer any remarks ; 
and the origin, extent, and value of the claims of Spain to teiri- 
tories in Northwest America, remained unquestioned during the 
discussion. 

This negotiation was soon broken off; it was, however, re- 
newed in October, 1818, after the conclusion of the convention 
between the United States and Great Britain ; and it was termi- 

1819. nated on the 22d of February, 1819, by the signature of a treaty 
Feb. 22. generally called the Florida Treaty ft in which the southern and 

southwestern limits of the United States- were definitively fixed. 
The Spaniards ceded Florida to the Americans, who, at the same 
time, relinquished all pretensions to the country west of the river 
Sabine ; and it was agreed that a line drawn from the source of 



* See message and documents sent by President Monroe to Congress, February 
22, 1819. 

+ See the third article of the Florida Treaty, in the Laws and the Diplomatic Code 
of the United States, and in the Appendix [F] to this memoir. 



171 



[174] 



the river Arkansas, north or south, as the case might be, to the 1819. 
42d parallel of latitude, and thence along that parallel westward 
to the Pacific, should form the northern boundary of the Spanish 
possessions, and the southern boundary of those of the United 
States on the western side of the continent — " his Catholic Ma- 
jesty ceding to the United States all his rights, claims, and pre- 
tensions to any territories north of the said line." The American 
plenipotentiary proposed the 41st parallel as the boundary ; but 
the Spaniards refused to admit it, fearing, no doubt, that a por- 
tion of the Rio del Norte, or the Colorado, or of some other river 
flowing through their dominions, might thus be included within 
the limits of the United States, whose citizens would not fail in 
such case to claim the right of navigating the stream to the sea. 
The most natural and convenient boundary would have been a 
line drawn along the summits of the Snowy Mountains, which 
extend in a continuous chain from a point in the Rocky Moun- 
tains, near the 43d degree of latitude, westward to the Pacific, 
where they terminate at Cape Mendocino, near the 40th degree. 

Before proceeding farther, it will be proper to inquire into the 
nature and value of the claims thus ceded by Spain to the United 
States ; for which purpose it will be requisite to look back to the 
convention of 1790 between the former Power and Great Britain. 
On analysing the convention of 1790, it will be found that — 
The first and second articles consist of engagements for the 
immediate performance of certain specified acts, by one or both 
of the parties, as the case might require ; which acts were duly 
performed. 

The third article is a declaration of rights, admitted to be equal- 
ly possessed by both parties, to navigate and fish in the Pacific 
and Southern Oceans, and to trade with the natives, or to make 
settlements on the coasts of those seas in places not previously 
occupied. 

The fourth , fifth , and sixth articles are devoted to the exposition 
of certain limitations and restrictions with regard to the exercise 
of those rights, which the parties mutually consent to observe, for 
the sake of peace and good understanding between themselves, 
without reference to any other nation. 

The two remaining articles contain engagements respecting 
the ratification of the agreement, and the mode of proceeding to 
be observed by each party in case of infraction by the orncers of 
the other. 

Nothing is expressed with regard to the period during which 
the stipulations are to remain in force. Whether either of the 
parties could have withdrawn from them during peace, without 
a breach of good faith, it is needless here to inquire ; but there 
can be no doubt that the restrictions and limitations would cease 
on the breaking out of war between the two countries, and that 
they could not be considered as again in force until after a formal 
renewal of the engagement. Spain declared war against Great 
Britain in October, 1796; and, since that period, the only ar- 
rangement which has been made between those Powers for the 
renewal of former agreements is contained in the first of the two 



[174] 



172 



1819. additional articles to the treaty of Madrid, of July 5, 1814. That 
article is as follows : " It is agreed, that during the negotiation of 
a new treaty of commerce, Great Britain shall be admitted to 
trade with Spain, upon the same conditions as those which ex- 
isted previously to 1796 ; all the treaties of commerce which at 
that period subsisted between the two nations being hereby rati- 
fied and confirmed." That this article related only to treaties of 
commerce, and between Great Britain and Spain only, without re- 
ference to the possessions of either party out of Europe, is clear; 
for, in the first place, no commerce had ever been allowed by 
treaty, between either party or its colonies and the colonies of the 
other; and, secondly, another article in the same treaty of Madrid 
provides, that "in the event of the commerce of the Spanish 
American colonies being opened to foreign nations, his Catholic 
Majesty promises that Great Britain shall be admitted to trade 
with those possessions as the most favored nations." Moreover, 
that the convention of 1790 should be considered as a commer- 
cial treaty between Spain and Great Britain, is impossible, seeing 
that one of its most clearly expressed objects was to prevent Brit- 
ish subjects from carrying on any commerce with the Spanish 
American dominions. 

These considerations appear to be sufficient to show that the 
convention of 1790 expired in 1796, and that it had not been re- 
newed when Spain ceded to the United States all her rights to 
territories on the western side of America north of the 42d parallel. 
The restrictions and limitations which the parties to that con- 
vention imposed upon themselves in 1790, therefore, disappeared 
in 1796; and the rights of each were afterwards to be regulated 
only according to the general law of nations. Before the conven- 
tion was concluded, the rights of Spain to the territory drained 
by the Columbia were undoubtedly stronger, agreeably to the 
law of nations, than those of any other Power. While the con- 
vention subsisted, neither party could acquire absolute sover- 
eignty over any spot in that territory, even by occupation, and 
no attempt at occupation was made by Great Britain; so that, on 
the expiration of the convention, the rights of Spain became again 
stronger than those of any other Power. Between 1796 and 
1819, the people of the United States had explored the region of 
the Columbia, and had established themselves on that river, be- 
fore any attempt either to explore or to occupy the country had 
been made by British subjects. The American settlements taken 
by the British during war had been restored, agreeably to the 
treaty of peace ; and on the 22d of February, 1819, when all the 
titles of Spain were transferred to the United States, Great Britain 
possessed no other just claims with regard to the country drained 
by the Columbia, than those derived from the convention of Oc- 
tober previous ; while the rights of the Americans were thence- 
forth founded on the bases of priority of discovery and priority of 
occupation. 

The British Government has, however, positively refused to 
admit that the convention of 1790 has been abrogated, or that 
Spain could convey to the United States any other rights than 



173 



[174] 



those which were secured to her by that convention. In the 1819. 
statement presented by the British plenipotentiaries to the Amer- 
ican minister, during the negotiations at London in 1826, it is 
declared — that all arguments and pretensions on the part of Great 
Britain or of Spain, whether resting on priority of discovery, or 
upon any other ground, were definitively set at rest by the con- 
vention of 1790, which opened all parts of the northwest coast of 
America to them both, for all purposes of commerce and settle- 
ment, and all the waters to be freely navigated by the vessels 
and subjects of both — that the rights of Spain having been con- 
veyed to the United States by the Florida treaty, in 1819, the 
United States necessarily succeeded to the limitations by which 
those rights were denned, and to the obligations under which 
they were to be exercised — and that Great Britain could not be 
expected to release those countries from the obligations and lim- 
itations contracted towards herself, merely because the rights of 
the party originally bound had been transferred to a third Power. 
In order to sustain these propositions, it was assumed, and at- 
tempts were made, as already stated, to prove — that the United 
States possessed no other claims to the countries in question 
than those derived from Spain in 1819 — that the Americans were 
not the first to enter the Columbia River, # nor to explore the re- 
gion through which it flows, f nor to make settlements on its 
banks — and that the restitution of Astoria was accompanied by 
an express reservation of the rights of Great Britain to the sover- 
eignty of the surrounding country. J 

The Florida treaty was not ratified until nearly two years after 
its signature by the plenipotentiaries; and before another year 
had elapsed, the authority of Spain had ceased in every part of 
America contiguous to the United States, In 1828, a treaty of 
limits was concluded between the United States and Mexico, by 
which the line of boundary agreed on with Spain, in 1819, was 
admitted as separating the territories of the two republics, Mex- 
ico taking the place of Spain. The provisions for running and 
marking the said line have, however, not as yet been complied 
with by the Mexican Government. 

In December, 1820, after the ratification of the Florida treaty, 1820. 
a resolution was passed by the House of Representatives in the Dec. 19. 
Congress of the United States, on the motion of Mr. Floyd, of 
Virginia, " that an inquiry should be made as to the situation of 
the settlements on the Pacific Ocean, and as to the expediency 
of occupying the Columbia River." The committee to which jg^i 
this resolution was referred, presented a long Report, drawii up by j a n. 20. 
Mr. Floyd, containing a sketch of the history of colonization in 
America, an account of the fur trade in the northern and north- 
western sections of the continent, and a description of the country 
claimed by the United States in those directions ; from all which 
are drawn the conclusions — that the whole territory of America 
bordering upon the Pacific from the 41st degree of latitude to the 



* See page 128. t See page 153. t See page 166. 



> 



[174] 



174 



1821. 53d, if not to the 60th, belonged of right to the United States, in 
virtue of the purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803, of the 
late acquisition of the Spanish titles, and of the discoveries and 
settlements of American citizens — that the trade of those coun- 
tries in furs and other articles, and the fisheries on their coasts, 
might be rendered highly productive — and that these advantages 
might be secured to citizens of the United States exclusively, by 
establishing " small trading-guards" on the most northeastern 
point of the Missouri, and at the mouth of the Columbia, and 
favoring emigration to the country west of the Rocky Mountains, 
not only from the United States, but also from China. The com- 
mittee thereupon reported " a bill for the occupation of the Col- 
umbia, and the regulation of the trade with the Indians in the 
territories of the United States." 

Without making any remarks upon the contents of this Report, 
it may be observed with regard to the bill, that its terms are di- 
rectly at variance with the provisions of the third article of the 
convention of October, 1818, between the United States and Great 
Britain ; inasmuch as the Columbia could not possibly be free 
and open to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of both those nations, 
if it were occupied by either. The bill was suffered to lie on the 
table of the House of Representatives during the remainder of the 
session. The subject was again brought before Congress in the 
ensuing year, and an estimate was obtained from the Navy Com- 
missioners of the expense of transporting cannon, ammunition, 
and stores to the Columbia ; but no further action was taken on 
the matter, either in that or the next session of the Legislature of 
the Union. 

In the mean time, important measures with respect to the 
northwest territories of America had been adopted and enforced 
by the British and the Russian Governments. 

The enmity subsisting between the Hudson's Bay and the 
Northwest Companies was for many years displayed only in 
words, or in the commission of trifling injuries by each party 
against the other. At length, however, in 1814, a regular war 
broke out, and was for some time openly carried on between 
them. The scene of the hostilities was the territory on the Red 
River, contiguous to the frontiers of the United States, in which 
a colony of Scotch highlanders was established in 1812, by Lord 
Selkirk, in virtue of a grant of the country from the Hudson's 
Bay Company. The validity of that grant was denied by the 
Northwest Company, to which the colony had proved injurious, 
as the supplies of provisions for the use of the northwest posts 
had been before obtained almost wholly from the Red River 
lands. The consequences were disputes and various acts of vi- 
olence, until, finally, in 1814, the Scotchmen were driven away, 
and their houses were destroyed by their opponents. The col- 
ony was re-established in the following year ; after which, the 
hostilities were renewed, posts were taken and burnt by each 
party, and on the 19th of June, 1816, a battle was fought, in 
which the Scotchmen were routed ; their governor, Mr. Semple> 
and seventeen of his followers, being killed. 



175 



[ 174] 



These affairs were brought before the British Parliament in 1821. 
June, 1819; and two years afterwards, a compromise was effected 
between the rival companies, through the intervention of the 
Colonial Department, by which they were united into one body, 
under the name of the Hudson's Bay Company; an Act being at 
the same time, and in connexion with the arrangement, passed by 
Parliament, on the authority of which the trade of all the Indian 
territories in northern America owned or claimed by Great Britain 
was granted exclusively to that company for twenty-one years. 

By this act, " for regulating the fur trade, and establishing a July 2, 
criminal and civil jurisdiction in certain parts of North America," 
the King was authorized to make grants, or give "licenses to any 
body corporate, company, or person, for the exclusive privilege of 
trading with the Indians in all parts of North America, not being 
parts of the territories heretofore granted to the Hudson's Bay 
Company, or of any of his Majesty's provinces, or of territories 
belonging to the United States ;" it being, however, provided — that 
no such grant or license was to be given for a longer period than 
twenty-one years — that no grant or license of exclusive trade in 
the part of America west of the Rocky Mountains, which was, 
by the convention of 1818 with the United States, to remain free 
and open to the citizens or subjects of both nations, should be 
used to the prejudice or exclusion of any citizens of the United 
States engaged in such trade — and that no British subject should 
trade in the said territories west of the Rocky Mountains, without 
such license or grant. Courts of judicature established in Upper 
Canada were empowered to take cognizance of all causes within 
the above described parts of America, as also within those belong- 
ing to the Hudson's Bay Company; and justices of the peace, or 
persons specially commissioned for the purpose, were to deter- 
mine causes, and to execute and enforce the orders and judg- 
ments of the aforesaid courts, in different parts of those regions; 
they being also authorized to commit to custody, and to convey 
to Upper Canada for trial, any person refusing to obey such or- 
ders and judgments. The justices of the peace might likewise 
be empowered to hold courts in the Indian countries, for trial of 
minor offences and of civil causes in which the amount in issue 
should not exceed two hundred pounds. 

Immediately after the passage of this act, the coalition of the August, 
two companies took place; and the Hudson's Bay Company re- 
ceived grants for exclusive trade in all the territories north of 
Canada, and of the United States, not already belonging to it, as 
also in those west of the Rocky Mountains, under the conditions 
expressed in the act. Persons in the service of the company 
were likewise commissioned as justices of the peace, and the ju- 
risdiction of the courts of Upper Canada was rendered effective 
as far as the shores of the Pacific; no exception in that respect 
being made by the terms of the act, with regard to any of the ter- 
ritories in which licenses for trade could be granted. 

The Russians were at the same period endeavoring to extend 
their dominion over the coasts of the north Pacific, by means 
more arbitrary, though less effective, as the result proved. 



[174] 



176 



1821. On the 8th of July, 1819, the charter of the Russian- American 
Company was renewed for twenty years, by the Emperor Alex- 
ander; and on the 4th of September, 1821, an imperial ukase, or 
edict, was issued at Saint Petersburgn, by which the whole west 
coast of America north of the 51st parallel, and the whole east 
coast of Asia north of the latitude of 45 degrees 50 minutes, and 
all the adjacent and intervening islands, were declared to belong 
exclusively to Russia ; foreigners being prohibited, under heavy 
penalties, from approaching within a hundred nriles of any of 
those territories, except in cases of extreme necessity. 
18-22. This ukase was communicated to the Government of the United 

Feb. 11. States by the Chevalier de Poletica, Russian envoy at Washing- 
ton, between whom and Mr. J. Q,. Adams, the American Secre- 
tary of State, a correspondence took place on the subject. Mr. 

Feb. 25. Adams began by expressing the astonishment of the President at 
these claims and assumptions of the Russian Government, and 
desired to know upon what circumstances they were founded. 

Feb. 28. To this the envoy replied by a long communication, containing a 
sketch (generally erroneous) of the discoveries of his countrymen 
on the northwest coast of America, which he insisted to have 
extended southward as far as the 49th degree of latitude; he 
defended the assumption of the 55th parallel as the southern limit 
of the possessions of his Sovereign, upon the ground that this 
line was midway between the mouth of the Columbia, where the 
Americans had formed a settlement, and New Archangel, the 
most southern Russian establishment; and he finally maintained 
that his Government would be justifiable in exercising the rights 
of sovereignty over the whole of the Pacific north of the said par- 
allel, inasmuch as that section of the sea was bounded on both . 
sides by Russian territories, and was thus in fact a close sea. 

Mar. 30. The Secretary of State, in return, asserted that " from the period 
of the existence of the United States as an independent nation, 
their vessels had freely navigated those seas ; and the right to 
navigate them was a part of that independence, as also the right 
of their citizens to trade, even in arms and munitions of war, 
with the aboriginal natives of the northwest coast of America, 
who were not under the territorial jurisdiction of other nations." 
He denied in toto the claim of the Russians to any part of Amer- 
ica south of the 55th degree of latitude, on the ground that this 
parallel was declared in the charter^ of the Russian- American 

* The first article of the charter or privilege granted by the Emperor Paul to the 
Russian- American Company, on the 8th of July, 1799, is as follows: 

" In virtue of the discovery by Russian navigators of a part of the coast of Amer- 
ica in the northeast, beginning from the 55th degree of latitude, and of chains of 
islands extending from Kamschatka, northward towards America, and southward 
towards Japan, Russia has acquired the right of possessing those lands; and the said 
company is authorized to enjoy all the advantages of industry, and all the establish- 
ments upon the said coast of America in the northeast, from the 55th degree of lati- 
tude to Beering's Strait, and beyond it, as also upon the Aleutian and Kurile Islands, 
and the others situated in the eastern Arctic Ocean." 

By the second article — 

" The company may make new discoveries, not only north, but also south of the 
said 55th parallel of latitude; and may occupy and bring under the dominion of Rus- 
sia all territories thus discovered; observing the rule, that such territories should not 
have been previously occupied and placed under subjection by another nation," 



177 



[ 174] 



: Company to be the southern limit of the discoveries of the Rus- 1822. 
. sians in 1799, since which period they had made no discoveries Mar. 30. 
r I or establishments south of the said line, on the coast now claimed 
it ; by them. With regard to the suggestion that the Russian Gov- 
it | ernment might justly exercise sovereignty over the Pacific Ocean 
,] as a close sea, because it claims territories both on the Asiatic and 
» the American shores, Mr. Adams merely observed, that the dis- 
■ \ tance between those shores, on the parallel of 51 degrees north, is 
| i four thousand miles; and he concluded by expressing the persua- 
sion of the President that the citizens of the United States would 
remain unmolested in the prosecution of their lawful commerce, 
and that no erTect would be given to a prohibition manifestly in- 
compatible with their rights. M. de Poletica, a few days after April 2, 
ji the receipt of Mr. Adams's second note, sent another communi- 
; ; cation respecting the rights of his Sovereign, in which he ad- 
vanced "the authentic fact, that in 1789, the Spanish packet 
Saint Charles, commanded by Captain Haro, found, in the lati- 
tude of forty-eight and forty-nine degrees, Russian establishments 
i to the number of eight, consisting, in the whole, of twenty fami- 
lies and four hundred and sixty -two individuals, who were the 
descendants of the companions of Captain Tschirikof, supposed 
until then to have perished. 77 It is scarcely necessary to occupy 
time in exposing the erroneousness of this " authentic fact." 
Martinez and Haro did, indeed, find Russian establishments on 
the American coast of the north Pacific in 1788; but they were 
all situated in the latitudes of fifty-eight and fifty-nine degrees ; 
and the individuals inhabiting them had been, a short time pre- 
vious, transported thither from Kamschatka and the Aleutian 
Islands, by Shellikof, the founder of the Russian- American Com- 
pany. # 

The prohibitory edict of the Russian Emperor, and the corres- 
pondence relating to it, were submitted to the Congress of the 
United States in April, 1822; and in the course of the ensuing 
year a negotiation was begun at Saint Petersburgh, with the 
object of arranging amicably the rights and interests of the re- 
spective parties on the northwest side of America. Another ne- 
gotiation with regard to that part of the world was also, at the 
same time and place, in progress between the plenipotentiaries of 
Russia and Great Britain ; the latter Power having protested for- 
mally against the claims and principles set forth in the ukase, 
immediately on its appearance, and afterwards at Yerona, whilst 
the Congress of Sovereigns was held there.f Under these cir- 1S23, 
cumstances, the Government of the United States became anx- 
ious that a joint convention should be concluded between the 
three nations having claims to the territories in question ; and the 
envoys of the Republic at London and Saint Petersburgh were 
therefore instructed to propose an agreement, to the effect — that no 



* See page 96. Fleurieu, in his Introduction to Marchand's Journal, mentions the 
rumor that Haro had found Russian settlements in 1788, between the 48th and 49th 
degrees ; but he at the same time exposes the error. 

t Debate in Parliament on the inquiry made by Sir J. Mackintosh, May 21, 1823, 



[174] 



178 



1823. settlement should be made on the northwest coast, or the adja- 
cent islands, during the next ten years, by Russians, south of the 
latitude of 55 degrees ; or by citizens of the United States north of 
the latitude of 51 degrees ; or by British subjects either south of 
the 51st, or north of the 55th parallels. 

The proposition for a joint convention was not accepted by 
either of the Governments to which it was addressed, partly in 
consequence of a clause in the annual message sent by President 
Monroe to Congress, in December, 1823, stating — that in the dis- 
cussions and arrangements relative to the northwest coast then 
going on, " the occasion had been judged proper for asserting, as 
a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States 
are involved, that the American continents, by the free and inde- 
pendent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are 
henceforth not to be considered as subjects for colonization by any 
European Power." This principle (which it would, perhaps, 
have been more politic to keep in petto than to assert openly) 
the British and Russian Governments each refused to admit; and 
there being many other points on which it was not probable that 
the three parties could ever agree, it was considered preferable 
that the negotiations should be carried on separately, as they had 
been, at London and at Saint Petersburgh. 

Another publication, on the part of the American Government, 
soon after contributed to render more difficult the settlement of 
the question of boundaries on the Pacific between the United 
States and Great Britain. 
Dec. 29. A select committee was appointed by the House of Represent- 
atives of the United States, in December, 1823, with instructions 
to inquire into the expediency of occupying the mouth of the 
Columbia. This committee, in the course of its duties, request- 
ed General Thomas S. Jesup, the Quartermaster General of the 
army, to communicate his opinions respecting the propriety of 
the measure proposed, as well as its practicability and the best 
method of executing it ; in reply to which, the General sent a 

1824. letter containing an exposition of his views of the true policy 
of the United States with regard to the northwest coasts and 
territories of America, and of the means by which they might 
be carried into effect. Leaving aside the question as to the 
rights of the United States, he considered the possession and 
military command of the Columbia and of the upper Missouri 
necessary for the protection, not only of the fur trade, but also of 
the whole western frontier of the republic, which is everywhere 
in contact with numerous, powerful, and warlike tribes of sav- 
ages; and, for this purpose, he recommended the immediate de- 
spatch of two hundred men across the continent to the mouth 
of the Columbia, while two merchant vessels should transport 
thither the cannon, ammunition, materials, and stores requisite 
for the first establishment ; after which, four or five intermediate 
posts should be formed at points between Council Bluffs, on the 
Missouri, (the most western spot then occupied by American 
troops,) and the Pacific. By such means, says the letter, "pres- 
ent protection would be afforded to our traders, and, on the ex- 



179 [174] 

piration of the privilege granted to British subjects to trade on 1824. 
the waters of the Columbia, we should be enabled to remove 
| them from our territory, and to secure the whole trade to our 
own citizens." 

J! The report, to which this letter was annexed, was ordered to 
i lie on the table of the House ; and nothing more was done on 
the subject during that session. The papers, however, were 
j published, and they immediately attracted the attention of the 
British ministry. In a conference held at London in July fol- July, 
lowing, between the American envoy, Mr. Rush, and the Brit- 
ish commissioners, Messrs. Huskisson and Stratford Canning, 
the latter gentlemen commented upon the observations of Gen- 
i eral Jesup, particularly upon those respecting the removal Of 
ji British traders from the territories of the Columbia, which they 
j said " were calculated to put Great Britain especially upon her 
guard, appearing as they did at a moment when a friendly ne- | 
gotiation was pending between the two Powers for the adjust- 
ment of their relative and , conflicting claims to that entire dis- 
trict of country." From the accounts of Mr. Rush, and those 
given subsequently by Mr. Gallatin, there is no doubt that 
the publication of General Jesup's letter, and the declaration in 
President Monroe's message against the establishment of Euro- 
pean colonies in America, rendered the British Government much 
more indisposed to any concession, with regard to the northwest 
territories, than it would otherwise have been. 

The negotiation mentioned in the preceding paragraph was 
not long continued ; the parties being so entirely at variance with 
!j regard to facts as well as principles, that the impossibility of ef- 
fecting any arrangement soon became evident to the plenipo- 
| tentiaries on both sides. Mr. Rush cited the discoveries of the 
Spaniards on the northwest coasts of America, to the benefit of 
which he maintained that the United States were entitled in vir- 
tue of the Florida treaty; and also the discovery of the Columbia 
by Gray, as endowing his nation with the strongest rights to the 
possession of the territories drained by that river ; and he insist- 
i ed, agreeably to express instructions from his Government, " that 
no part of the American continent was henceforth to be open to 
colonization from Europe." The British commissioners, on the 
other hand, doubted the truth of many of the circumstances re- 
lated with regard to the Spanish expeditions in the north Pacific, 
and alleged, as more authentic, the accounts of the voyage of 
Drake, from which it appeared that he had in 1579 explored the 
west coast of America to the 48th parallel of latitude, five or six 
degrees farther north than the Spaniards pretended to have ad- 
vanced before that period. They refused "to admit that the mere 
fact of Spanish navigators having first seen the coast at partic- 
ular points, even where this was capable of being substantiated, 
i without any subsequent or efficient acts of sovereignty or settle-- 
ment, should exclude all other nations from that portion of the 
globe." They also denied that the circumstance of an American 
merchant vessel having penetrated the coast of the continent at 
the Columbia River could confer on the United States any claim 



180 



1824. along the same coast, which had been discovered and explored 
by Great Britain herself, in expeditions fitted out under the au- 
thority and with the resources of the nation. Finally, they de- 
clared " that the claim of the United States respecting the terri- 
tory watered by the Columbia and its tributaries"," as set forth by 
Mr. Rush, besides being essentially objectionable in its general 
bearing, had the effect of interfering directly with the actual 
rights of Great Britain, derived from use, occupancy, and settle- 
ment ; and that they considered the unoccupied parts of America 
open, as heretofore, to colonization by Great Britain, or by other 
European Powers, agreeably to the convention of 1790," which 
they contended had become a part of the universal law of nations. 
June 29. After much discussion on these points, Mr. Rush presented, 
on the part of his Government, a proposal — that any country 
west of the Rocky Mountains, which might be claimed by either 
nation, should, with the navigation of all its waters, be free and 
open to both nations for ten years; provided that, during the 
said period, no settlements were to be made by British subjects 
south of the 51st degree of latitude, or by American citizens north 
of that parallel. To this proposal, which Mr. Rush afterwards 
varied by substituting the 49th degree lor the 51st, Messrs. Hus- 
July 13. kisson and Canning replied, definitively,, by a counter-project, 
to the effect — that the boundary between the territories of Great 
Britain and those of the United States, west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, should be a line drawn from those mountains westward, 
along the 49th parallel, to the nearest, head-waters of the Colum- 
bia, and thence down the middle of the stream to its termination 
in the Pacific ; the British possessing the country north and 
west of such line, and the Americans that on the other side : 
provided, that the citizens or subjects of both nations should be 
at liberty, during the next ten years, to pass by land or by water 
through all the territories, and to retain and use their establish- 
ments already formed in any part of them. Immediately after 
the presentation of this counter-project, the negotiation respect- 
ing the northwest territories of America was suspended, and it 
was not renewed until November, 1826.* 

In the mean time the negotiation in progress at St. Peters- 
burgh, between the Russian and the American Governments, 
was terminated by a convention, signed on the 17th of April, 
1824, of which the following is the substance : The citizens or 
subjects of the two nations are not to be disturbed or restrained 
in navigating any part of the Pacific, or in resorting to its coasts 
for the purposes of fishing or of trading with the natives, in 
places not already occupied ; provided, that citizens of the United 
States are not to resort to any Russian establishment, nor Rus- 
sian subjects to any American establishment, on the northwest 
coasts of America, without permission from the governor or com- 
mander of such place. No establishment is in future to be 
formed upon the northwest coasts of America, or the adjacent is- 
lands, by citizens of the United States, north of the latitude of .54 



* Documents accompanying the President's message of January 31, 1826. 



181 



[174] 



degrees and 40 minutes, nor by Russians, or under the authority 1824. 
of Russia, south of that latitude. The citizens or subjects of both 
nations may, during the next ten years, frequent the interior 
' seas, gulfs, harbors, and creeks upon the said coasts, for the pur- 
poses of fishing or of trading with the natives. The two Powers, 
nevertheless, engage, reciprocally, neither to sell, nor to suffer 
their citizens or subjects to sell, to the natives on the said coasts, 
any arms, powder, munitions of war, or spirituous liquors ; pro- 
vided^ that this restriction is not to be regarded as affording a 
pretext for the search or detention of vessels engaged in trading, 
or for the seizure of the articles, or for any measure of restraint 
against the merchants or their crews ; the parties respectively re- 
serving to themselves the right of determining upon the penal- 
ties, and of inflicting the punishments, in cases of contravention 
of this prohibition by their citizens or subjects.*" 

Thus was the ukase of September, 1821, virtually annulled, 
so far as regarded American citizens, against whom it had been 
enforced in one instance only. The brig Pearl, of Boston, was 
turned away from Sitca in October, 1822 ; her owners, however, 
were, after the conclusion of the convention, indemnified for 
their injuries by the Russian Government. It may be here 
stated, that the stipulation respecting the trade and fishery in 
the interior waters on the northwest side of America has not 
been renewed ; the other engagements continue in force, un- 
changed. 

On the 28th of February, 1825, a convention, relative to the 1825. 
northwest coast of America and the adjacent seas, was also con- Feb - 98 
eluded between the Governments of Russia and Great Britain.f 
Its provisions concerning the navigation of the Pacific, and the 
trade with the natives of the American coasts, were nearly iden- 
tical with those agreed on between the United States and Rus- 
sia, in the preceding year ; it is, however, much more particular 
and definite as regards territorial limits. " The line of demar- 
cation between the possessions of the parties upon the coasts of 
the continent and the islands of America, in the northwest," is 
made to commence from the southernmost point of Prince of 
Wales's Island, in the latitude of 54 degrees and 40 minutes, 
and to run eastward to the Portland Channel, which it ascends 
to the 56th degree of latitude ; thence it follows the summit of 
the mountains situated parallel to the coast, as far as the point 
of intersection of the 141st degree of longitude west from Green- 
wich, (passing through the west side of Mount Saint Elias,) and 
continues along that meridian, northward, to the Arctic Ocean ; 
but, wherever the said summit of the mountains is more than 
ten leagues from the sea, the boundary runs parallel to the coast 
at the distance of ten leagues from it. The Russians are never 
to form an establishment south or east of this line, nor are the 
British to form any on the other side of it ; but the British are 

* Appendix [F] to this memoir. By the act of Congress of May 19, 1628, any- 
American citizen contravening this prohibition becomes liable to fine and impri- 
sonment. 

t Herstlett's British Treaties, vol. iii, page 362; and appendix [F] to this memoir. 



[174] 



182 



1825. to enjoy forever the right of navigating all streams, which may 
cross the said boundary in their course from the interior of the 
continent to the sea. The navigation of the inland seas, gulfs, 
harbors, and creeks on the coasts, for the purposes of fishing or 
of trading with the natives, is left free to both parties for ten 
years, under restrictions similar to those set forth in the con- 
vention between Russia and the United States ; and the port of 
Sitca, or New Archangel, is opened to British subjects during the 
same period. These provisions were not renewed at the expira- 
tion of the ten years; all the other stipulations still remain in force. 

In these two conventions the Governments of the United States 
and Great Britain, separately and independently, yet equally and 
clearly, though implicitly, recognise the exclusive privilege of 
Russia to occupy all the coasts and islands of the Pacific side of 
America, north of the latitude of 54 degrees and 40 minutes, and 
to exercise sovereignty over the places thus occupied, but without 
acknowledging her absolute and entire possession of all that part of 
America. With regard to the territories extending southward from 
the said parallel, in which the Russians are to make no estab- 
lishment, the right of occupation is claimed by both the other 
Powers; indirectly by the United States, but distinctly and to the 
exclusion of all other nations by Great Britain. 

In December, 1824, President Monroe, by his last annual mes- 
sage to Congress, advised the immediate establishment of a mili- 
tary post at the mouth of the Columbia, and also the despatch of 
a frigate for the survey of the coasts contiguous to that point, and 
for the protection of American interests in the north Pacific. The 
same measures were in the following year recommended by Pres- 
ident Adams, among the various plans for the advantage of the 
United States, and of the world in general, to which he directed 
the attention of the Federal Legislature, at the commencement of 
its session. In compliance with this recommendation, a com- 

1826. mittee was appointed by the House of Representatives, the chair- 
man of which (Mr. Baylies) submitted two reports, containing 
numerous details respecting — the history of discovery and trade in 
Northwest America; the geography, soil, climate, and productions 
of the portion claimed by the United States ; the number and 
value of the furs procured in it; the expenses of surveying its 
coasts, and of forming military establishments for its occupation; 
and many other points connected with those matters : and he 
concluded by bringing in a bill for the immediate execution of 
the measures proposed by the President.* This bill was laid on 
the table of the House, and the subject was not again agitated 
in Congress until two years afterwards ; little or no interest re- 
specting the northwest territories of America was in fact then felt 
by citizens of the United States, either in or out of Congress. 

By this time, the period of ten years, during which the coun- 
tries claimed by Great Britain, or by the United States, west of 
the Rocky Mountains, were to remain free and open to the people 
of both nations, was drawing to a close; and it was desirable that 



* See reports of the House of Representatives, 1st session of the 19th Congress. 



183 



[174] 



some definitive arrangement respecting those countries should, 1626. 
if possible, be made between the two Governments, before the 
expiration of that term. With this object, a negotiation was com- 
menced at London; or, rather, the negotiation which had been 
broken off in 1824, was renewed in November, 1826; Mr. Al- 
bert Gallatin representing the interests of the United States, and 
Messrs. Huskisson and Addington those of Great Britain. 

Before entering upon the details of this negotiation, it should 
be observed, that the difficulty of effecting a satisfactory arrange- 
ment for the partition of the disputed territories had been materi- 
ally increased since 1818, in consequence of the great inequality 
which had been produced in the relative positions of the two par- 
ties, as regards actual occupation by their respective citizens or 
subjects. In 1826 the British were enjoying, almost exclusively, 
the use and control of the whole country beyond the Rocky 
Mountains, north of the mouth of the Columbia. The union of 
the two rfval companies in 1821, and the establishment of civil and 
criminal jurisdiction throughout the division of America allotted 
to them, proved very advantageous to Great Britain, politically as 
well as commercially. The Hudson's Bay Company became at 
once a powerful body; its resources were no longer wasted in 
disputes with a rival association ; its regulations were enforced ; 
its operations were conducted with security and efficiency; and 
encouragement was afforded for the extension of its posts and 
communications, by the assurance that the honor of the Govern- 
ment was thereby more strongly engaged in its support. Many 
of these posts were fortified, and could be defended by their in- 
mates — men inured to dangers and hardships of all kinds — against 
any attacks which might be apprehended; and thus, in the course 
of a few years, the whole region north and northwest of the Uni- 
ted States, from Hudson's Bay and Canada to the Pacific, partic- 
ularly the portion traversed by the Columbia and its branches, 
was occupied, in a military sense, by British forces, although 
there was not a single British soldier, strictly speaking, within 
its limits. 

The United States, on the other hand, possessed no establish- 
ments, and exercised no authority or jurisdiction whatsoever, be- 
yond the Rocky Mountains ; and the number of their citizens in 
that whole territory did not probably exceed two hundred. This, 
however, is not to be attributed to want of enterprise in the 
Americans, but simply to the fact that they had already at their 
disposal much finer countries in their immediate vicinity. 

Under such circumstances were the negotiations between the 
Governments of Great Britain and the United States, relative to 
these territories, renewed at London in November, 1826. The Novemb. 
British plenipotentiaries began by declaring the readiness of their 
Government to abide by its offer, made in 1824— to admit the Co- 
lumbia as the line of separation between the territories of the two 
nations, west of the Rocky Mountains, securing to the United 
States all that lies east of that river, and south of the 49th parallel 
of latitude. To this offer Mr. Gallatin gave a decided negative ; 
and then repeated the proposition which had been submitted by 



[174] 



184 



1886. himself and Mr. Hush in 1818, for the adoption of the 49th par- 
allel as the boundary from the mountains to the Pacific ; with the 
additions — that if the said line should cross any of the branches 
of the Columbia at points from which they are navigable by boats 
to the main stream, the navigation of such branches, and of the 
main stream, should be perpetually free and common to the peo- 
ple of both nations ; that the citizens or subjects of neither party 
should thenceforward make any settlements in the territories of 
the other ; but that all settlements already formed by the people 
of either nation within the limits of the other, might be occupied 
and used by them for ten years, and no longer; during which, all 
the remaining provisions of the existing convention should con- 
Dec, 1. tinue in force. This proposition was in like manner rejected by 
the British, who then expressed their willingness, in addition to 
their first offer, to yield to the United States a detached territory 
north of the Columbia, in the angle formed by the Pacific coast 
and the south side of the Strait of Fuca, embracing Port Discov- 
ery and Bulfinch's Harbor. Mr. Gallatin refused his assent to 
this, or any other arrangement giving to Great Britain the pos- 
session of territory south of the 49th parallel; and the negotiators, 
having no expectation of efTecting a partition of the country in 
dispute, directed their attention solely to the subject of the con- 
tinuance of the joint occupancy of the whole region. 
Dec. 16. For that object, the British proposed that the arrangement ac- 
tually subsisting should be renewed and prolonged for fifteen 
years, with the provisions that neither Power should assume or 
exercise any right of sovereignty or dominion over any part of 
the country during that period ; and that no settlement then ex- 
isting, or which might in future be formed, should ever be ad- 
duced by either party in support or furtherance of such claims of 
sovereignty or dominion. This proposition was taken by Mr. 
Gallatin for reference to his Government; and the discussions 
were in consequence suspended until May of the following year. 
1827. The President of the United States refused to agree to any 
modification of the terms of the joint occupancy ; and Mr. Galla- 
tin was at the same time instructed to declare, that the American 
Government did not hold itself bound hereafter, in consequence of 
any proposal which it had made, for a line of separation between 
the territories of the two nations beyond the Rocky Mountains ; 
but would consider itself at liberty to contend for the full extent of 
the claims of the United States. The British commissioners made 
a similar declaration with regard to the proposals which had been 
advanced on the part of their Government; and intimated their 
readiness to agree to a simple renewal of the existing arrange- 
ment, provided an article were appended, explanatory of what they 
considered to be its true meaning and bearing. Mr. Gallatin was 
unable to assent to any addition, of that or any other nature; and 
Aug. 20. at length, on the 20th of August, a convention* was signed, to the 
effect — that all the provisions of the third article of the convention 



* Convention of 1827 between the United States and Great Britain, in the Ap- 
pendix [FJ to this memoir. 



185 



[ 174] 



of October, 1818, should be further indefinitely continued in 1827. 
force; either party being, however, at liberty, after the 20th of 
October, 1828, to annul and abrogate the engagement, on giving 
due notice of twelve months to the other. This agreement still 
remains in force, notwithstanding the many efforts which have 
been made in the Congress of the United States to procure its 
abrogation. 

In the course of this negotiation, the claims of the respective 
parties to the territories were fully set forth, and thoroughly ex- 
amined, not only in conferences between the plenipotentiaries, 
but also in written statements* submitted on each side. To re- 
view all the assumptions and arguments thus advanced, in detail, 
would be superfluous, as they have been kept in mind through- 
out this memoir ; it will be proper, however, to present a sum- 
mary of them, with remarks on points not already noticed, as the 
best means of showing the positions assumed by each Govern- 
ment at that time. 

Mr. Gallatin claimed for the United States the possession of the 
, country west of the Rocky Mountains, between the 42d and the 
49th parallels of latitude, upon the grounds of — 

The first discovery of the Columbia, by Gray; the first explor- 
ation of the territory through which that river flows, by Lewis 
and Clarke ; and the establishment of the first posts and settle- 
ments in the said territory, by citizens of the United States : 

The virtual recognition by the British Government of the title 
of the United States, in the restitution of the post near the mouth 
of the Columbia, agreeably to the first article of the treaty of 
Ghent, without any reservation or exception whatsoever : 

The acquisition by the United States of all the titles of Spain, 
which titles were derived from the discovery and exploration of 
the coasts of the region in question, by Spanish subjects, before 
they had been seen by the people of any other civilized nation : 
And, lastly, upon the ground of contiguity, which should give 
to the United States a stronger right to those territories than could 
be advanced by any other Power. " If," said Mr. Gallatin, " a 
few trading factories on the shores of Hudson's Bay have been 
considered by Great Britain as giving an exclusive right of occu- 
pancy as far as the Rocky Mountains — if the infant settlements 
on the more southern Atlantic shores justified a claim thence to 
the South Seas, and which was actually enforced to the Missis- 
sippi—that of the millions of American citizens already within 
reach of those seas, cannot consistently be rejected. It will not 
be denied, that the extent of contiguous country to which an 
actual settlement gives a prior right, must depend, in a consider- 
able degree, on the magnitude and population of that settlement, 
and on the facility with which the vacant adjacent land may, 
within a short time, be occupied, settled, and cultivated by such 
population, compared with the probability of its being occupied 
and settled from any other quarter. This doctrine was admitted 
to its fullest extent by Great Britain, as appeared by all her char- 



* Document of the House of Representatives, 20th Congress, 1st session, No. 199. 



[174] 



186 



1827. ters, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, given to colonies 
established then only on the borders of the Atlantic. How much 
more natural and stronger the claim, when made by a nation 
whose population extended to the central parts of the continent, 
and whose dominions were by all acknowledged to extend to the 
Rocky Mountains." 

The British plenipotentiaries, on the other hand, endeavored 
to prove, as already stated — 

That the Columbia was not discovered by Gray, who had only 
entered the bay at its mouth, discovered four years previous by 
Lieutenant Meares, of the British navy : # 

That the exploration of the interior of the country of the Col- 
umbia by Lewis and Clarke, could not be cited by the United 
States as strengthening and confirming their claim to that terri- 
tory, because, " if not before, at least in the same and subsequent 
years, the British Northwest Company had, by means of their 
agent, Mr. Thompson, already established their posts on the 
head-waters or main branch of the Columbia:"! 

That the restitution of Astoria in 1818 was accompanied by 
express reservations of the right of Great Britain to the territory 
on which that settlement was declared to be an encroachment:]; 

That the titles to the territories in question, derived by the 
United States from Spain, through the Florida Treaty, amounted 
to nothing more than the rights secured to Spain equally with 
Great Britain, by the convention|| of 1790, namely, to settle on 
any part of those countries, to navigate and fish in their waters, 
and to trade with their natives. Whether Louisiana extended to 
the Pacific, or not, was of no consequence, inasmuch as it was a 
Spanish possession in 1790; and if a portion of it bordered upon, 
the Pacific, such portion was, of course, included in the stipula- 
tions of the convention signed in that year : 

That the charters granted by British Sovereigns to colonies on 
the Atlantic coasts, were nothing more than cessions to the gran- 
tees, of whatever rights the grantor might consider himself to 
possess, and could not be regarded as binding on the subjects of 
any other nation, or as part of the law of nations, until they had 
been confirmed by treaties ; had the Government of the United 
States thought fit, in 1790, to grant by charter to Mr. Gray the 
whole territory bordering upon the Columbia, such charter would 
have been valid against all other citizens of the United States ; 
but it would not have been recognised either by Great Britain or 
by Spain, as those Powers were in that year preparing to contest 
by arms the possession of the very territory which would have 
formed the subject of the grant. [With regard to these latter 
assertions, whatever may have been the ideas of British Sover- 
eigns as to the extent of their rights in North America, certain 

* The entire groundlessness of these assertions may be seen by reference to pages 
93 and 128. 

t At page 153, explanations are given with regard to the just value of the words 
here quoted from the statement of the British plenipotentiaries, 
i See page 165. 

II For a review of the convention of 1790 3 and inquiries as to its bearing upon this 
question, see page 171. 



187 



it is, that the charters granted by them, to colonies on the Atlantic 1827. 
coast were considered by the British Government as valid, and 
udere enforced against the subjects of other nations, on various 
occasions, between 1606 and 1763. In proof of this, may be 
cited the charters granted to the Virginia Company by King James 
I, in 1609 and 1611; in virtue of which, the Dutch settlements 
on the Hudson, in a country first discovered, explored, and set- 
tled under the flag of the United Provinces, were, in 1664, during 
a period of profound peace between the two nations, seized by 
British forces, as being included within the territories granted to 
the Virginia Company. In like manner, the settlements made 
by British subjects, under a British charter, on the Ohio, in a 
country first discovered, explored, and occupied by the French, 
were sustained by the British Government ; and the disputes on 
account of those settlements are well known to have been among 
the principal causes of the war of 1755 between those Powers. 
These facts are here cited, not in vindication of the justice of such 
charters, but merely in order to show in what light they have 
been hitherto really regarded by the British Government. In 
this, as in all the other points of the controversy, it will be seen 
that the arguments of the commissioners were founded upon the 
views of natural right, or of the principles of international law, 
which their Government chose to adopt and recognise at the mo- 
ment, without reference to precedent.] 

Messrs. Huskisson and Addington, in conclusion, presented 
the following summary of the pretensions of their Government, 
which may be considered as definitively indicating its views and 
proposed course with regard to Northwest America : 

" Great Britain claims no exclusive sovereignty over any por- 
tion of the territory on the Pacific between the 42d and the 49th 
parallels of latitude ; her present claim, not in respect to any part, 
but to the whole, is limited to a right of joint occupancy in com- 
mon with other states, leaving the right of exclusive dominion in 
abeyance ; and her pretensions tend to the mere maintenance of 
her own rights, in resistance to the exclusive character of the 
pretensions of the United States. 

" The rights of Great Britain are recorded and defined in the 
convention of 1790; they embrace the right to navigate the waters 
of those countries, to settle in and over any part of them, and to 
trade with the inhabitants and occupiers of the same. These 
rights have been peaceably exercised ever since the date of that 
convention ; that is, for a period of nearly forty years. Under 
that convention, valuable British interests have grown up in 
those countries. It is admitted that the United States possess 
the same rights, although they have been exercised by them only 
in a single instance, and have not, since the year 1813, been ex- 
ercised at ail; but beyond those rights, they possess none. 

" In the interior of the territory in question, the subjects of 
Great Britain have had for many years numerous settlements and 
trading-posts ; several of these posts are on the tributary streams 
of the Columbia; several upon the Columbia itself; some to the 
northward, and others to the southward of that river. And they 



[174] 



188 



1827. navigate the Columbia as the sole channel for the conveyance of 
their produce to the British stations nearest the sea, and for the 
shipment of it from thence to Great Britain ; it is also by the Co- 
lumbia and its tributary streams that these posts and settlements 
received their annual supplies from Great Britain. 

" To the interests and establishments which British industry 
and enterprise have created, Great Britain owes protection; that 
protection will be given, both as regards settlement, and freedom 
of trade and navigation, with every attention not to infringe the 
co-ordinate rights of the United States ; it being the desire of the 
British Government, so long as the joint occupancy continues, to 
regulate its own obligations by the same rules which govern the 
obligations of every other occupying party." 

These concluding declarations of the British commissioners 
are sufficiently explicit. When taken in connexion with the 
reasonings which precede them, they show clearly that all farther 
attempts on the part of the United States to establish the justice 
of their claims by negotiation with Great Britain should be de- 
ferred until the two parties are more nearly equal as regards the 
power of enforcing their respective determinations. 

The new convention was submitted by President Adams to 
the Senate of the United States in the winter of 1827, and, hav- 
ing been approved, was immediately ratified ; since which, no 
communication whatsoever, on subjects connected with the 
northwest coasts of America, has passed between the Govern- 
ment of the Republic and that of Great Britain. 

1828. The documents relative to the negotiation were laid before the 
House of RepresentatiA^es at Washington in the spring of 1828, 
and were published by its order. In the ensuing session the sub- 
ject of the occupation of the mouth of the Columbia was again 
brought before that House, and, after a long series of debates, 

1829. a bill was reported, authorizing the President to erect forts be- 
ran. 7. yond the Rocky Mountains, and to cause those territories to be 

explored ; and providing for the punishment of offences commit- 
ted there by American citizens. This bill was rejected on the 
1831. 23d of December. In January, 1831, President Jackson, in re- 
inuary. pjy t0 a ca |j f or information, sent to the Senate a report from the 
Secretary of War, relative to the British establishments on the Co- 
lumbia, and the state of the fur trade, containing several interest- 
ing communications from persons engaged in that business, or 
acquainted with it; but no action was taken on the subject, and 
very little attention was given in either House to matters con- 
cerning the countries in question until 1838. 
1834. Before that year, the Government of the United States had 
been engaged in another discussion with that of Russia, respect- 
ing the northwest coasts. It will be remembered, that by the 
convention of 1824 it was understood that, during a term of ten 
years, counting from the signature of the convention, the ships 
of both Powers, or which belong to their citizens or subjects, re- 
spectively, might reciprocally frequent, without any hindrance 
whatever, the interior seas, gulfs, harbors, and creeks, upon the 
coast mentioned in the preceding article, for the purpose offish- 



189 



[174] 



ing and trading with the natives of the country. The period 1834. 
during which this right was to be exercised by both parties ex- 
pired in April, 1834, and immediately afterwards two American 
vessels were ordered by Baron Wrangel, the governor of the Rus- 
sian settlements in America, to cease their trade on the coasts 
north of the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes. The Russian 
minister at Washington, about the same time, gave notice of the 
expiration of this agreement to Mr. Forsyth, the Secretary of 
State of the United States,* suggesting to him, also, the propriety 
of communicating the fact officially to the citizens of the Re- 
public. Mr. Forsyth, in his answer, expressed a wish to know 
whether a proposition for the continuance of the arrangement 
would be favorably received at Saint Petersburgh; and the Rus- 
sian minister being unable to answer the question, the represent- 
ative of the United States near the Imperial Government was 
instructed to propose formally the renewal of the stipulations for 
an indefinite period. In the mean time, however, a notice of the 
expiration of the agreement, and of the order given by Baron 
Wrangel, was published in the newspapers of the United States. f 

The reasoning of Mr. Forsyth on this question, as presented 1837. 
in his letter of instruction to Mr. Dallas, the envoy of the United Nov - 3 - 
States at Saint Petersburgh, can scarcely be abridged without 
materially impairing its strength. Mr. Forsyth, after repeating 
the cardinal rule as to the construction of instruments of every 
']* kind, namely — that they should be so construed, if possible, as that 
every part 'may stand — maintains that the fourth article of the 
convention cannot " be understood as implying an acknowledg- 
ment on the part of the United States of the right of Russia to 
the possession of the coast above the latitude of 54 degrees 40 
minutes north ; but that it should be taken in connexion with 
the other articles, which have, in fact, no reference whatever to 
the question of the right of possession of the unoccupied parts of 
the coast. In a spirit of compromise, and to prevent future col- 
lisions or difficulties, it was agreed that no new establishments 
should be formed by the respective parties, north or south of a 
certain parallel of latitude, after the conclusion of the agreement; 
but the question of the right of possession beyond the existing 
establishments, as it subsisted previous to, or at the time of, the 
conclusion of the convention, was left untouched. The United 
States, in agreeing not to form new establishments north of the 
latitude of 54 degrees and 40 minutes, made no acknowledgment 
of the right of Russia to the possession of the territory above that 
line. If such admission had been made, Russia, by the same 
construction of the article referred to, must have acknowledged 
the right of the United States to the territory south of the line. 
But that Russia did not so understand the article, is conclusively 
proved by her having entered into a similar agreement in a sub- 
sequent treaty (1825) with Great Britain, and having, in fact. 



* Message of President Van Buren of December 4, 1838, and the accompanying 
document No. 2. 
t See the Washington Globe of July 22, 1835, 



[174] 



190 



1837. acknowledged in that instrument the right of possession of the 
ft>v.3. same territory ~by Great Britain. The United States can only be 
considered as acknowledging the right of Russia to acquire, by 
actual occupation, a just claim to unoccupied lands above the 
latitude of 54 degrees 40 minutes north : paid even this is a mere 
matter of inference, as the convention of 1S24 contains nothing 
more than a negation of the right of the United States to occupy 
new points within that limit. Admitting that this inference was 
in contemplation of the parties to the convention, it cannot follow 
that the United States ever intended to abandon the just right, 
acknowledged by the first article to belong to them, under the 
law of nations : that is — to frequent any part of the unoccupied 
coast of North America, for the purpose of fishing or trading with 
the natives. All that the convention admits is, an inference of 
the right of Russia to acquire possession by settlement north of 
54 degrees and 40 minutes north ; and until that possession is 
taken, the first article of the convention acknowledges the right 
of the United States to fish and trade, as prior to its negotiation/' 
These arguments, the conclusiveness of which appears to be 
unquestionable, the Russian Chancellor of State, Count Nessel- 
rode, did not attempt to controvert. He contented himself sim- 
ply with declining, in behalf of his Government, the proposition 
for the renewal of the engagements contained in the fourth article 
of the convention ; and thus the matter rests. American vessels 
are prohibited from frequenting a large portion of the unoccupied 
west coasts of the continent, north of the latitude of 54 degrees 
and 40 minutes ; and the trade of the United States in the north 
Pacific has been doubtless somewhat diminished in consequence. 

The Russians have, in like manner, refused to renew the stip- 
ulations of the same nature contained in the fifth article of the 
treaty of 1825 between their Government and that of Great Brit- 
ain, and have, moreover, directly opposed the enforcement of the 
right, secured to the latter Power, by another article of that treaty, 
to navigate any rivers which may flow from the interior of the con- 
tinent to the ocean, across the line of boundary there establish- 
ed. The circumstances as related* are the following: In 1S34, 
the Hudson's Bay Company fitted out an expedition for the pur- 
pose of establishing a trading-post on the Stikine. a river lately 
discovered, entering the ocean in latitude of 56 degrees 50 min- 
utes, which is said to be three miles broad at its mouth, and a 
mile broad at the distance of thirty-five miles higher up. Baron 
Wrangel, the Governor of the Russian- American possessions, hav- 
ing been informed of this project, erected a block-house at the 
mouth of the river, and stationed a sloop of war there; and on 
the appearance of the vessel bearing the men and materials for 
the contemplated establishments, the British were informed that 
they would not be allowed to pass. All appeals to the treaty 
were ineffectual and the Hudson's Bay Company were foiled in 
their attempt, after having spent, as is asserted, twenty thousand 
pounds in preparations. 



* London and Westminster Review for August. 1S3S. 



191 



[174] 



CHAPTER X. 

Account of the Hudson's Bay Company's establishments— Fur trade over land be- 
tween the United States and the northwest territories — The North American and 
the Rocky Mountain Fur Companies — Expeditions of Wyeth and Bonneville — 
Emigration from the United States to the countries of the Columbia— Conclusion. 

In the preceding chapter, it was shown that the Northwest and 1821. 
Hudson r s Bay trading companies were, in 1821, united; or rather, 
that the former was merged in the latter, which afterwards, in 
virtue of an act of Parliament, passed in the same year, received 
from the British crown the exclusive privilege of trade in all the 
territories of America north of Canada and the United States, not 
already possessed by the company, as well as in those west of 
the Rocky Mountains, so far as the claims of Great Britain ex- 
tended, agreeably to the convention of 1818 between her Gov- 
ernment and that of the United States ; that the jurisdiction of 
the courts of Upper Canada over British subjects in all those ter- 
ritories, was established by the abovementioned act of Parlia- 
ment; and that the stipulations of the convention of 1818, by 

' which American citizens and British subjects were, during ten 
years, equally entitled to trade or settle in any country west of 
the Rocky Mountains, claimed by either party, had been contin- 1627. 
ued in force for an indefinite period, with the understanding that 
they might be abrogated by either Government, after due notice 
of twelve months to the other. 

These arrangements, all of which remain at present in vigor, 

j have proved highly advantageous to the British in every respect. 
The northern and northwestern regions of the continent have 
been explored by their officers and men of science, and new 
means of commercial intercourse have been discovered, of which 
the Hudson's Bay Company have availed themselves, by in- 
creasing their establishments and extending their operations. 
That company is, indeed, a powerful body, or rather a great 
Power, in America. Its posts may be found occupying all the 
most important points in those regions ; its boats may be met on 
every stream, conveying British manufactures to the interior, or 
furs to the great depositories on the seaboard, for shipment to 
England in British vessels ; and the Indians are everywhere so 
tutored and managed by its agents, that they have become the 
willing slaves of the association, and are ready at any time to 
strike at its adversaries. Yet the whole number of persons in the 
service of the company, in 1834, was, according to Mr. Mont- 
gomery Martin* less than one thousand, and it has probably not 
since been increased. 



* History of the British Colonies, vol. iii, page 533. 



174] 



192 



1838. The concerns of the Hudson's Bay Company are managed by 
a governor, deputy governor, and a committee of directors, estab- 
lished in London, by whom all orders for the regulation of the 
business are devised and issued, and to whom all the reports and 
accounts are transmitted. The trade in America is under the 
immediate superintendence of a resident governor; the inferior 
officers are agents, factors, traders, and clerks, some of whom 
have a direct interest or share in the business; the others being 
engaged at small salaries, with the promise of a pension for life 
after a certain period of service. The greater part of these offices 
are generally filled by natives of Great Britain ; the hunters, trap- 
pers, voyageurs, &c, are mostly French Canadians, Indians, or 
half-breeds, who receive little or nothing besides their clothing, 
and the scanty allowance of miserable food upon which they sub- 
sist. The strictest discipline and subordination are everywhere 
observed ; and attention to the interests of the company is in- 
sured, by the prospects held out of advancement in the service, 
or of maintenance in old age. 

Two settlements, intended partly for the reception and support 
of retiring servants of the company, have been established in its 
countries : one on the Red River, near the boundary of the United 
States, the only land north of that line which appears to offer any 
inducements for cultivation ; and the other in the delightful val- 
ley of the Wallamet, south of the lower Columbia. The inhabit- 
ants of these colonies are kept in a state of absolute dependence 
upon the company; from it alone they can receive their supplies 
of foreign necessaries ; it retains the right of the soil, and can, 
moreover, oblige them at a moment's warning to quit its territo- 
ries. That the settlements should languish under such circum- 
stances, and that the able-bodied men should desert from the Red 
River into the United States, as they frequently do, is not sur- 
prising. 

The furs and skins, which form nearly the sole returns of the 
trade, are procured principally from the Indians, in exchange for 
coarse manufactured goods, imported from Great Britain free of 
duty into the company's territories ; although servants of the asso- 
ciation are also employed in trapping and hunting, at particular 
seasons. It is asserted on the part of the company, that ardent 
spirits are never bartered for furs, and that the average quantity 
introduced into the country has not, for many years past, ex- 
ceeded a gill per annum for each person in it. There is no cause 
to doubt the sincerity of the statement, especially as it is the in- 
terest of the traders to keep the Indians sober, industrious, and 
free from vices ; though other accounts appear to show that the 
quantity of liquors introduced is much greater, and that they are 
often given to the natives for furs — probably without the knowl- 
edge of the company's agents. 

The territories of the company are divided into districts or de- 
partments, each under the charge of an agent, who distributes to 
the traders the goods received from England, and sends to their 
proper destination the furs collected in return ; the transportation 
being performed alternately in boats and by portage, for which 



193 



purpose the articles are packed in bundles of such a size as to be 1838. 
easily carried by one man. The furs are sent to three great de- 
positories on the seaboard, from which are also brought the goods 
for trade. These are Montreal, on the Saint Lawrence, York 
|| Factory, on Hudson's Bay, and Fort Vancouver, on the Colum- 
bia ; each of which is the capital or heart of a certain number of 
districts. Nearly all the articles going to or coming from Mon- 
treal, pass through Fort William,, one of the principal factories of 
the company, situated a few miles northwest of Lake Superior. 
The furs and skins from Port Yancouver are all sent directly to 
London, by ships which arrive annually, bringing articles for the 
trade. The company, moreover, employs several small vessels 
on the northwest coasts, and a steamboat; which latter is princi- 
pally used in the Strait of Fuca, and the other channels among 
the islands of the northwest Archipelago. 

The average annual value of the peltries exported from Amer- 
ica by the Hudson's Bay Company,*' between 1827 and 1833, 
amounted, according to McGregor, to two hundred and ten thous- 
and pounds sterling, (about one million of dollars,) of which, pro- 
bably one-sixth part was received from the territories west of the 
Rocky Mountains. Mr. Wyeth estimates the amount of the furs 
derived from those territories by the company in 1836, at one hun- 
dred and thirty-eight thousand dollars, London price ; for which 
are given, about twenty thousand dollars worth (prime cost) of 
goods ; the services of three hundred and fifty men, employed in 
various parts of the business ; shipping to bring supplies, and 
take back returns; and two years' interest on the investments. 
He had, moreover, " good evidence that, in 1832, the profits of 



* The following list of the Hudson's Bay Company's establishments west of the 
Rocky Mountains is extracted from an article in the London and Westminster Re- 
view for August, 1838; written by some person connected with that association, and 
minutely acquainted with its affairs : 

" The princioal establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company on the northwest 
coast is Fort Vancouver, situated on the north bank of the Columbia River, about 
seventy miles from the ocean, in latitude 45£ degrees, longitude 122 degrees 30 
minutes. It was formed by Governor Simpson in 1824, and named after the distin- 
guished navigator who first discovered and surveyed the Columbia. [!] They have 
likewise a post on the south side, at the mouth of the river, named Fort George, for- 
merly Astoria. They have, moreover, the post of Nasqually, in Puget's Sound, 
latitude 47 degrees; the post of Fort Langly,at the outlet of Frazer's River, latitude 
49 degrees 25 minutes; the post ot Fort McLoughlin, in Mill Bank Sound, latitude 
52 dtgrees; the post of Fort Simpson, on Dundas Island, latitude 54| degrees; and 
were forcibly prevented by the Russians, in 1834, from establishing a post on the 
Stikine River, latitude 56j degrees west, longitude 131 degrees 10 minutes. Inland, 
on the west side the mountains, (hey have fifteen establishments, viz: Frazer's Lake, 
McLeod's Lake, Fort George, Alexandria-Chilcotins, Babine, and Bear's Lake, in 
New Caledonia; the post of Thompson's River, falling into Frazer's River; the 
posts of Nez Perces, Okanagan, and Colville, on the Columbia; the Flathead and 
Kootania posts, between the north and south branches of the Columbia river, near 
the mountains; the post of Fort Hall, on the southern branch of the Columbia; and 
the Umqua Post, on the river of the same name, latitude 43 degrees 30 minutes, lon- 
gitude 124 degrees, south of the Columbia River. They have, further, two migra- 
tory trading and trapping expeditions, ol about fifty men each — the one hunting in 
the country situated between the Columbia and the Bay of San Francisco, towards 
the coast; and the other in the interior country between the Columbia and the head- 
waters of the rivers falling into the Bay of San Francisco. They likewise have a 
steam-vessel and five sailing-vessels, of from one hundred to three hundred tons 
burden, all armed." 



[174] 



194 



1838. the whole western department (including the Columbia coun- 
tries) did not exceed ten thousand dollars." The shares of the 
company are at this time worth more than double their original 
value, which was one hundred pounds each. In the most recent 
London tables of prices, the last annual dividend on each share 
is stated at ten pounds.* 

In the mean time, the regions west of the Rocky Mountains 
have not been neglected by the people of the United States. For 
some years after the destruction of the Pacific Fur Company, no 
American citizens were to be seen in those countries. The North 
American Company, of which Mr. Astor was also the head, con- 
lined its operations to the vicinity of the Great Lakes, the head- 
waters of the Mississippi, and the lower part of the Missouri ; 
sometimes extending them farther up the latter river, and on the 
Yellow Stone, particularly after its union with another company, 
organized in 1S22, under the name of the Columbia Fur Com- 
pany. In 1823, Mr. W. H. Ashley, of Saint Louis, who had pre- 
vious^ established a trading-post on the Yellow Stone, fitted out 
an expedition for the country beyond the Rocky Mountains; and 
having crossed the chain between the sources of the Platte and 
the Colorado, near the 42d degree of latitude, he obtained a large 
supply of furs, which were transported to Saint Louis. About a 
hundred men were in the following year left by him in that coun- 
try, to hunt and trap ; and although they had to contend against 
the people of the Hudson's Bay Company, who opposed them in 
every way, the value of the furs collected by them in three years 
amounted to one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. 

1827, In the first expeditions from Saint Louis, the goods were trans- 
ported on pack-horses. In 1827, Mr. Ashley sent sixty men, 
with a piece of cannon drawn by mules, who marched to the 
great Salt Lake, called Lake Youta, beyond the mountains; and 
after remaining in that country a sufficient length of time to col- 
lect the furs and distribute the supplies among the hunters, 



* The following table of the number and value of furs and peltries exported in 
1831. from the parts of America owned or occupied by the British, is given in Mo 
Culloch's Dictionary of Commerce, as extracted from the work of Bliss, on the 
Trade and Industry of British America: 



Skin. 


No: 


£ 


s. 


d. 


£ 


5. 


d. 


Bearer 


- 126,944 each 


1 


5 


0 


15^,680 


0 


0 


Muskrat - 


- 375.731 " 


0 


0 


6 


9,393 


5 


6 


Lynx 


- . - 58,010 " 


0 


8 


0 


23,204 


0 


0 


Wolf 


5,947 " 


0 


8 


0 


2,378 


16 


0 


Bear 


3,850 " 


1 


0 


0 


3,850 


0 


0 


Fox 


• - 8,765 " 


0 


10 


0 


4.382 


10 


0 


Mink - 


9.298 " 


0 


2 


0 


'929 


16 


0 


Racoon 


325 " 


0 


1 


6 


24 


7 


6 


Tails 


2,290 " 


0 


1 


0 


114 


10 


0 


Wolverine - * 


1,744 « 


0 


3 


0 


261 


12 


0 


Deer 


645 " 


0 


3 


0 


96 


15 


0 


Weasel 


34 " 


0 


0 


6 


0 


17 


0 












£203.316 


9 


D 



The other articles exported by the Hudson : s Bay Company, from America, are 
isinglass, sea-horse teeth, feathers, goose and swan quills, whalebone 5 and oil; the 
value of all which is trifling. 



195 



[ 174] 



returned to Missouri, having been absent just seven months. 1827. 
Since that time, wagons have been generally employed for car- 
rying the articles to the foot of the mountains ; they may, indeed, 
cross the chain, through a depression called the Southern Pass, 
nearly under the 42d parallel, between the head- waters of the 
Platte on the eastern side, and those of the Colorado and of the 
Lewis, the principal southern branch of the Columbia, on the 
west; and it is said that, recently, a light carriage has been driven 
from Connecticut to the Great Falls of the Columbia, near the 
Pacific. 

In 1826 Messrs. Smith, Jackson, and Sublette, of Saint Louis, 1826. 
engaged in the same business, and, having subsequently pur- 
chased Mr. Ashley's establishments and interests, they carried on 
a regular trade with the countries of the Columbia and the Co- 
lorado, under the name of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.* 

The active proceedings of the St. Louis traders roused the 



* The following account of the first expedition with wagons to the Rocky Moun- 
tains made in 1829, by Messrs. Smith, Jackson, and Sublette, is extracted from a 



letter addressed by those gentlemen to the Secretary of War, in October, 1829, and 



published with President Jackson's message to the House of Representatives of Jan- 
uary 25, 1831. It will serve to show the mode and the route generally pursued in 
these expeditions at the present day: 

" On the 10th of April last, (1829,) we set out from Saint Louis, with eighty-one 
men, all mounted on mules, ten wagons, each drawn by five mules, and two dear- 
borns, (light carriages, or carts,) each drawn by one mule. Our route was nearly 
due west to the western Mmits oi the State of Missouri, and thence along the Santa 
Fe trail, about forty miles from which the course was some degrees north of west, 
across the waters of the Kansas, and up the Great Platte river, to the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and to the head of Wind River, where it issues from the mountains. This 
took us until the 16th of July, and was as far as we wished the wagons to go, as the 
furs to be brought in were to be collected at this place, which is, or was this year, 
the great rendezvous of the persons engaged in that business. Here the wagons 
could easily have crossed the Rocky Mountains, it being what is called the Southern 
Pass, had it been desirable for them to do so; which it was not, for the reason stated. 
For our support, at leaving the Missouri settlements, until we should get into the 
buffalo country, we drove twelve head of cattle, besides a milch cow. Eight of these 
only being required for use before we got to the buffaloes, the others went on to the 
head of Wind River. We began to fall in with the buffaloes on the Platte, about 
three hundred and fifty miles from the white settlements; and from that time lived 
on buffaloes, the quantity being infinitely beyond what we needed. On the 4th of 
August, the wagons being, in the mean time, loaded with the furs which had been 
previously taken, we set out on the return to Saint Louis. All the high points of 
the mountains then in view were white with snow; but the passes and valleys, and 
all the level country, were green with grass. Our route back was over the same 
ground nearly as in going out, and we arrived at Saint Louis on the 10th of October, 
bringing back the ten wagons, the dearborns being left behind ; four of the oxen and 
the milch cow were also brought back to the settlements in Missouri, as we did not 
need them for provision. Our men were all healthy during the whole time ; we suf- 
fered nothing by the Indians, and had no accident but the death of one man, being 
buried under a bank of earth that fell in upon him, and another being crippled at 
the same time. Of the mules, we lost but one by fatigue, and two horses stolen by 
the Kansas Indians; the grass being, along the whole route, going and coming, suf- 
ficient for the support of the horses and mules. The usual weight in the wagons 
was about one thousand eight hundred pounds. The usual progress of the wagons 
was from fifteen to twenty-five miles per day. The country being almost all open, 
level, and prairie, the chief obstructions were ravines and creeks, the banks of which 
required cutting down; and, for this purpose, a few pioneers w r ere generally kept 
ahead of the caravan. This is the first time that wagons ever went to the Rocky 
Mountains, and the ease and safety with which it was done prove the facility of 
communicating over land with the Pacific Ocean ; the route from the Southern Pass, 
where the wagons stopped, to the Great Falls of the Columbia, being easier and 
better than on this side of the mountains, with grass enough for horses and mules, 
but a scarcity of game for the support of men." 



[174] 



196 



1332. spirit of the North American Fur Company, which also extended 
its operations to the countries beyond the Rocky Mountains ; and 
several independent parties of adventurers have, from time to 
time, made expeditions in the same direction. In 1832 Captain 
Bonneville, of the United States army, while on a furlough, led a 
band of more than a hundred men, with twenty wagons and 
many mules and horses, carrying goods from Missouri to the 
Far West ; and remained with them two years, employed in tra- 
ding, hunting, and trapping, chiefly in the country drained by 
the Lewis and its branches.* 

About the same time, Mr. Nathaniel Wyeth, of Massachusetts, 
endeavored to establish a direct trade in American vessels, be- 
tween the ports of the United States and the Columbia ; from 
which latter, the returns were to be made in salmon and furs. 
With these views, he led two expeditions across the continent; 
and having also sent a vessel around to the west coast, he formed 
two trading-stations — one called Fort Hall, near the junction of 

1834. the river Portneuf with the Leiois, in the southeast angle of Ore- 
gon ; and another on Wappatoo Island, at the entrance of the Wal- 
lamet into the Columbia, sixty miles from the Pacific. He was, 
however, forced to abandon his attempts, chiefly in consequence 
of the opposition indirectly exerted by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany. Captain Wyeth 's expeditions, though thus unprofitable 
to himself, have been rendered very advantageous to his country- 
men, by means of the information which he has afforded respect- 
ing the territories of the Columbia. His short memoir, printed 
by order of the House of Representatives at Washington, in Feb- 
ruary, 1839,f conveys more exact and useful instruction as to 
the climate, soil, configuration of the surface, and agricultural 
and commercial capabilities of those countries, than any other 
work yet published. 

1838. The posts of the Americans west of the Rocky Mountains are 
few, and those are on a very limited scale. Nearly all their furs 
are procured directly by themselves, as they trade but little with 
the Indians, whom the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company 
take care to keep at enmity with them. The hunters and trap- 
pers who remain constantly in that country are about three or 
four hundred in number, nearly all of them white men. In the 
summer of each year they repair (carrying their furs on pack- 
horses, or on their backs) to certain places of rendezvous, where 
they meet the caravans from the United States ; and the trade is 
there conducted without the use of money, each article, however, 
bearing a nominal value,J expressed in dollars and cents. The 

* The adventures of this officer and his party have been made generally known 
by Mr. Washington Irving, who has compiled from Capiain Bonneville's notes a 
pleasant narrative, somewhat in the vein of Fray Antonio Agapida's Chronicle. 

t Report of the committee of the House of Representatives relative to ihe Oregon 
Territory. Mr. Townsend. a naturalist of Philadelphia, who accompanied Captain 
Wyeth in his second journey across the continent, has published a Narrative of his 
Adventures. Wyeth's movements are also related incidentally in the account of 
Captain Bonneville's expedition. 

t These nominal values are curious. We find, among the prices current on the 
Colorado, whiskey quoted at three dollars a pint; tobacco at five dollars a pound} 
gunpowder at six dollars a pint ; dogs (for eating) at fifteen dollars each, &c. 



197 



[174] 



principal places of rendezvous are on Green River, a branch of 1,339. 
the Colorado, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, on the western 
side, near the 42d degree of latitude ; and Pierre's Hole, a valley 
about one hundred miles north of the other, from which issues 
one of the easternmost head-waters of the Snake, or Lewis River, 
emptying into the Columbia. Both these places are near the 
sources of a branch of the Platte, there called the Sweet Water, 
along which lies the route of the caravans from and to Missouri. 

To conclude with regard to the trade in peltries, for which the 
countries on the northwest side of America have been hitherto 
principally used by the people of civilized nations. It appears to 
be certain that the business is declining in every part of the con- 
tinent, but particularly in the territories drained by the Colum- 
bia, in consequence of the disappearance of the animals yielding 
the furs and skins. The Hudson's Bay Company successfully 
endeavor to prevent this decrease on the eastern side of the Rocky 
Mountains, by allowing the districts in which it is perceived to 
remain undisturbed for some time. On the Columbia, however, 
where the control of that body is less absolute, and its tenure is 
uncertain, such precautions are not used ; and every part is yearly 
ransacked by traders and trappers, both British and American. 
How long the fur trade may yet be profitably pursued beyond 
the mountains, it is impossible to judge from the imperfect data 
obtained ; there is, however, reason to believe that those regions 
must soon be abandoned by the Hudson's Bay Company, unless 
some other mode of employing its capital there can be devised, 
or the entire possession of the territory can be secured to it. In 
what other pursuits besides the fur trade British capitalists may 
advantageously employ their funds in Northwest America, is 
therefore an interesting question at present. From what has 
been hitherto learned of those countries, they do not offer pros- 
pects of a speedy return for the investment of capital in any other 
way. They contain lands in detached portions, which will 
immediately yield to the industrious cultivator the means of 
subsistence, and enable him, perhaps, to purchase some foreign 
articles of luxury or necessity. But this is all; they produce no 
precious metals, or commodities, no gold nor silver, nor coffee, 
nor cotton, nor opium; nor are they, like India, inhabited by a 
numerous population, who may be easily forced to labor for the 
benefit of a few. 

Such is the state of the fur trade in the interior of Northwest 
America, according to the most recent accounts. In the north 
Pacific, this business is no longer carried on by vessels of the 
United States, which have been completely excluded from the 
coasts, by the prohibitory measures of the Russians, and the ac- 
tivity of the Hudson's Bay Company. The only North American 
furs which now enter China by sea, are brought thither direct 
from New York or from London ; but, in compensation for the 
loss of that trade, the Pacific is now traversed in all parts, by nu- 
merous American whaling vessels, giving employment to nearly 
four thousand seamen. For these vessels, the Sandwich Islands 
form the principal place of resort, although they often enter the 



198 



1839. Bay of San Francisco, in California, in order to obtain water and 
fresh provisions. The Sandwich Islands* are now under the au- 
thority of a native Sovereign ; the Bay of San Francisco still con- 
stitutes a part of the Mexican possessions. How long will these 
two important places remain in their present political condition? 
Great Britain has pretensions to the sovereignty of Owyhee; and 
it is rumored that her Government has made propositions to that 
of Mexico for the purchase of California. Should the British de- 
termine to take possession of Owyhee, there is no probability that 
they could be prevented from so doing. With regard to Califor- 
nia, however, it is not to be supposed that they would occupy the 
country without authorization from its present possessors ; and it 
is scarcely possible that any Mexican administration will venture 
to sanction such a measure, as it would undoubtedly bring imme- 
diate ruin upon the Republic. 

With regard to colonization in Northwest America, it has al- 
ready been shown that the Hudson's Bay Company is adverse 
to the existence of - a free population in its territories. The only 
settlement which appears to have been made under its auspices, 
beyond the Rocky Mountains, is that on the Wallamet, where a 
few old Canadian voyageurs are permitted to reside, with their 
Indian wives and half-breed families, on condition of remaining 
faithful to their liege lords of the company. In the neighborhood 
of each large factory, indeed, a portion of ground is cleared and 
cultivated, and dwelling-houses, mills, and shops for artisans are 

* These islands have been so frequently mentioned in the course of this memoir, 
that a short geographical notice of them may be usefully inserted here. 

They are in number ten, situated in the north Pacific, just within the limits of the 
torrid zone, between 18| and degrees oflatitude, about three thousand miles, or 
twenty days' sail southwest from the mouth of the Columbia, and about twice that 
distance Irom Canton, which lies nearly due west from them. The largest of the 
islands, Owyhee, (or Hawaii, as it is also sometimes written,) is about four thousand 
miles in superficial extent, and is supposed to contain eighty thousand inhabitants, 
The principal port is Honoruru, in the island of Woahoo, or Oahu, said to be the 
most fertile and agreeable of the group. They were discovered by Cook in 1778, 
and surveyed by Vancouver, who, in 1794, obtained from Tamahamaha, King of 
Owyhee, the cession of that island to Great Britain, as related at page 138. Tama- 
hamaha died in 1819, after having reduced all the Sandwich Islands under his au- 
thority; and they are a' present governed by his reputed grandson, Kauikeaouli, or, 
as he styles himself, Tamahamaha III. 

The Christian religion was established, or rather the ancient religion was over- 
thrown, after the death of Tamahamaha; and several missionaries, nearly all of 
them Americans, of the Presbyterian church, are at present engaged in propagating 
their doctrines among the people. Some time since, two French Catholic priests 
entered the same field as missionaries; but they were persecuted, branded as idola- 
ters, and at length driven from the islands by the Government, at the instigation, it 
is supposed, of the Protestants. The affair was forgotten until last year, when the 
French frigate Artemise arrived at Honoruru, and retribution was exacted for the 
alleged outrages, in a manner entirely conformable with the honor and glory of the 
Grande Nation. 

The value of these islands to the commerce of the north Pacific is incalculable. 
They form, indeed, a hotel and storehouse for the refreshment and supply of ves- 
sels, situated in the most convenient position, immediately on the highway between 
Asia and America. Their importance as a place of resort for the whaling vessels 
of the United States maybe estimated from the fact, that during the months of Sep- 
tember, October, and November, 1839, they were visited by thirty-three ships, four 
brigs, and one schooner, all American, employed in that branch of fishery. It is 
scarcely necessary to add, that, for the peace and freedom of navigation of the Pa- 
cific, the Sandwich Islands should continue politically independent. This is, how° 
ever, scarcely to be expected. 



199 



[ 174] 



erected ; but these improvements are all entirely subservient to 1839. 
the uses and objects of the company; all proceedings not strictly 
connected with its pursuits being discouraged, and all persons 
not under its authority being treated as intruders. Of the per- 
sons in the employment of the association, a small number only 
are white men ; and rarely is a white woman to be seen in its 
territories, The half-breed voyageurs, trappers, and hunters, are 
better, and less expensive, than any others who could be obtain- 
ed; and the Indian and half-breed women are the most useful 
helpmates, with whom all ties may, moreover, be easily dissolved. 
There is, in consequence, little prospect of the diffusion of the 
pure Anglo-Saxon race through countries possessed by the Hud- 
son's Bay Company. 

The first emigrations from the United States for the purpose of 
settlement, without any special commercial views, in the coun- 
tries of the Columbia, appear to have been made in 1832. Three 
years afterwards, a small colony of Americans was established on 
the Wallamet, about seventy miJes from its mouth, under the 
direction of Mr. Jason Lee, and other Methodist clergymen; and 
since that period, the number of citizens of the United States per- 
manently residing beyond the Rocky Mountains has been much 
increased. With regard to the condition of these settlements, no 
information has been recently obtained. In 1837 they were all 
prospering; and it may be supposed that they are continuing to 
do well, inasmuch as a large number of emigrants sailed for the 
Columbia from New York in the autumn of last year, under the 
superintendence of one of the founders of the Wallamet colony ; 
and other persons are said to be now in that city preparing for a 
similar expedition. 

It is not, however, by means of such long and dangerous voy- 
ages that citizens of the United States are to effect settlements 
in Northwest America; and it will doubtless be the care of their 
Government to render smoother and more secure the routes across 
the continent to those countries, lying entirely within the undis- 
puted limits of the Republic. In the possession of these routes, 
the Americans have infinite advantages over the British, and all 
other nations, for occupying the regions in question ; and nothing 
more is required to render the journey through them safe and 
easy, than the establishment of a few posts, at convenient dis- 
tances apart, on a line between the Missouri and the passes of 
the Rocky Mountains, which may serve as forts to overawe the 
savages, and as caravanserais for the repose, and possibly even 
for the supply, of travellers. When this has been done, the Amer- 
ican settlements on the Columbia will soon acquire that degree 
of extent and stability, which will render nugatory all claims on 
the part of other nations to the possession of those countries. 

Within the last five or six years the Government as well as 
the people of the United States have begun to devote their at- 
tention seriously to matters connected with the northwest regions 
of this continent. Numerous petitions have been presented, and 
motions have been made and discussed, in both Houses of the 
Federal Legislature, for the annulment of the existing arrange- 



[174] 



200 



1839. ment with Great Britain, the miiitary occupation of those territo^ 
ries, and the extension of American jurisdiction over them ; and 
the Executive has been sedulously engaged in collecting the in- 
formation which may be necessary in order to place the subject 
in a proper light, and to render movements effective at the proper 
time. These proceedings are ail so recent, and so well known, 
that details respecting them would be needless. Suffice it to 
say, that no resolution has been taken on any of the plans pro- 
posed ; and that the position of the American Government with 
regard to the territories claimed for the United States on the Pa- 
cific, continues as fixed by its conventions with Great Britain, 
Russia, and Mexico. # 

The writer has now completed the task assigned to him, by 
presenting an exposition of the most important circumstances rel- 
ative to the discovery and occupation of the northwest coasts and 
territories of North America, by the people of various civilized 
nations, and of the pretensions advanced by the Governments of 
those nations in consequence. To indicate farther the course 
which should be pursued on the part of the United States with re- 
gard to their claims, lies not within his province. To conclude: 
he has, as he conceives, demonstrated that the titles of the United 
States to the possession of the regions drained by the river Colum- 
bia^ derived from priority of discovery and priority of occupation,, 
are as yet stronger, and more consistent with the principles of na- 
tional right, than those of any other Power , from whatsoever source 
derived. That those regions must be eventually possessed by 
the people of the United States only, no one acquainted with the 
progress of settlement in the Mississippi valley during the last 
fifteen years will be inclined to question ; but that Great Britain 
will, by every means in her power, evade the recognition of the 
American claims, and oppose the establishment of an American 
population on the shores of the Pacific, may be confidently ex- 
pected, from the dispositions evinced by her Government in all 
its recent discussions with the United States. 



* That the British Government observes its engagements with equal strictness 7 
there is some reason to doubt; inasmuch as it is said that a large tract in the angle 
formed by the Pacific and the Strait of Fuca, north of Buifinch's Harbor, has been 
recently granted in full possession to the Hudson's Bay, or some other company r 
•which is actually engaged in dividing and selling the lands. 



201 

APPENDIX, 



[ 174 ] 



A. 

EXTENT OP THE PART OF THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA SEEN BY 
FRANCIS DRAKE IN 1579. 

All that is known respecting Drake's visit to the northwest coast of 
America, has been derived from two narratives of his expedition, which 
are — 

1. " The Famous Voyage of Sir Francis Drake into the South Sea, and 
there hence, about the whole globe of the earth ; begun in the year of our 
Lord 1577: by Francis Pretty;" published in London by Hakluyt, in 
1589, in his " Voyages and Navigations of the English;" and — 

2. " The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake, collected out of the 
Notes of Mr. Francis Fletcher, Preacher in this employment, and compared 
with divers others' Notes, that went in the same voyage" It was published 
in 1652; the name of the compiler is not known. Fletcher's Journal is 
still preserved in manuscript in the British Museum ; Burney, who con- 
sulted it, could, however, gather nothing from it, in addition to what is 
published. The Famous Voyage is undoubtedly one of the " divers others 9 
notes" mentioned in the title, as whole sentences, and even paragraphs, 
are the same in both narratives.* 

The Famous Voyage is a plain and succinct account, in general suni- 
ciently dear, of what the writer saw, or believed to have taken place, 
during the voyage. With regard to the extent of coast observed by Drake 
on the northwestern side of California, he says only what is contained in 
the following paragraph : 

" The 5th day of June, being in 43 degrees of the pole arctic, being 
speedily come out of the extreme heat, we found the air so cold that our 
men, being pinched with the same, complained of the extremity thereof; 
and the further we went, the more the cold increased upon us. Where- 
upon, we thought it best for that time to seek the land, and did so, finding 
it not mountainous, but low plain land, and we drew back again without 
landing, till we came within 38 degrees towards the line; in which height 
it pleased God to send us into a fair and good bay, with a good wind to 
enter the same. In this bay we anchored on the 17th of June." After 
which, the writer goes on to describe the occurrences on shore. 

Nothing is here said of the latitude, or of the day of the month, in which 
the land was first seen; it is, however, to be inferred from the context, 
that they did not advance far towards the north after the 5th of June, on 
which they were in the latitude of 43. Such was the opinion of Hak- 



* The part of the Famous Voyage relating to the northwest coast may be found in the third 
volume of the reprint of Hakluyi's Collection, pa^e 523. The World Encompassed is contain _d 
in the second volume of Osborne's Collection of Voyages, page 434. 



C 174 3 



202 



luyt, who, in many parts of his works, says that Drake sailed northwest 
of California to the 43d degree. Purchas, in his Pilgrims, published in 
1617, (page 52, vol. i,) relates that " Sir Francis Drake sailed on the other 
side of America to 43 degrees of northerly latitude, and with cold was 
forced to retire." And of all the other accounts and notices of this voyage, 
•written before 1750, three only have been found, in which it is asserted 
that the English proceeded north of the 43d parallel in the Pacific. 

The famous navigator, John Davis, in his World's Hydrographical Dis- 
covery, published in 1595, (Hakluyt, vol. iv, page 459,) says : " And after 
that Sir Francis Drake was entered into the South Sea, he coasted all the 
western shores of America, until he came into the septentrional latitude 
of 48 degrees." To this assertion, however, no credit can be given, inas- 
much as it is nowhere else pretended that Drake saw any part of the 
western side of America, between Guatulco and the 38th degree. 

Admiral Sir William Monson, in his Naval Tracts, first published in 
1712, also declares, that " from the 16th of April to the 15th of June, Drake 
sailed without seeing land; and arrived in 48 degrees, thinking to find a 
passage into our seas, which land he named New Albion." Unfortu- 
nately for the admiral's consistency, he remarks, in many other parts of 
Ms Tracts, that Cape Mendocino, which is near the 40th parallel, is " the 
farthest land discovered ," and " the f urthermost known part of America." 

The World, Encompassed is the only work, besides the two above men- 
tioned, published before the middle of the last century, in which it is 
maintained that Drake advanced along the west coast of America beyond 
the 43d degree of latitude ; and upon the statements there given Burney 
founds his assertion, that the whole western shore of the continent be- 
tween the 42d and the 48th parallels, was first discovered by the English 
navigator. A few extracts from the narrative, with observations upon 
them, will serve to show that this decision is not warranted by sufficient 
authority. 

m " From Guatulco," says the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, " we departed April 
15, setting our course directly into the sea; whereupon we sailed five 
hundred leagues in longitude to get a wind, and between that and the 3d 
of June one thousand four hundred leagues in all, till we came into the 
latitude of 42 degrees north, where, in the night following, we found such 
an alteration of the heat into extreme and nipping cold, that our men in 
general did grievously complain thereof. # * # # It came to 
that extremity, that in sailing but 2 degrees farther to the northward in 
cur course, # * # # our meat, as soon as it was removed from 
the fire, would presently, in a manner, be frozen up; and our ropes and 
tackling, in a few days, were grown to that stiffness, that what three men 
before were able to perform, now six men, with their best strength and 
utmost endeavor, were hardly able to accomplish. # * * # The 
land in that part of America bearing farther out into the west than we 
before imagined, we were nearer on it than we were aware ; and yet, the ^ 
nearer still we came unto it, the more extremity of cold did seize upon us. 
The 5th day of June we were forced by contrary winds to run in with 



* The part of the World Encompassed, devoted to Drake's Voyage in the north Pacific, is 
spread over a number of pages, the greater part of which are occupied with the speculations 
(of the compiler, no doubt) on the causes of the great coldness of the atmosphere in that quar- 
ter, and with accounts of the ceremonies of the natives; ail of which are here omitted. 



203 



[174] 



the shore, which we then first descried ; and to cast anchor in a bad bay, 
the best road we could for the present meet with, where we were not with- 
out some danger, by reason of the many extreme gusts and flaws that beat 
upon us. *-***_. .--In this place was no abiding for us, and to 
go farther north the extremity of the cold would not permit us ; and the 
winds directly bent against us, having once gotten us under sail again, 
commanded us to the southward, whether we would or no. From the 
height of 48 degrees, in which we now were, to 38, we found the land, by 
coasting along it, to be but low" and reasonably plain ; every hill, whereof 
we saw many, but none very high, though it were in June, and the sun 
in his nearest approach unto them, being covered with snow. In 38 de- 
grees 30 minutes, we fell in with a convenient and fit harbor; and June 
17 came to anchor therein, where we continued till the 23d of July ; 
during all which time, notwithstanding it was the height of summer, and 
so near the sun, yet we were constantly visited with like nipping colds 
as we had felt before. # # # # Neither could we, at any time, 
in whole fourteen days together, find the air so clear as to be able to take 
the height of sun or star. # # * # How unhandsome and deformed 
appeared the face of the earth itself, showing trees without leaves, and the 
ground without greenness, in those months of June and July !.**}* 
For the causes of this extremity, # # the chiefest we conceive to be, 
the large spreading of the Asian and American continents, which, (some- 
what northward of these parts,) if they be not fully joined, yet seem to 
come very near one to another; from whose high and snow-covered moun- 
tains, the north and northwest winds, the constant visiters of these coasts, 
send abroad their frozen nymphs. # # * # And that the north and 
northwest winds are here constant in June and July, as the north wind 
alone is in August and September, we not only found it by our own ex- 
perience, but. were fully confirmed in the opinion thereof by the continued 
observations of the Spaniards. * * # # Though we searched the 
coast diligently, even unto the 48th degree, yet found we not the land to 
trend so much as one point in any place towards the east, but rather run- 
ning on continually northwest, as if it went directly to meet with Asia." 

Upon examining these statements, given in the World Encompassed, 
we find that on the third of June, Drake's vessel was in the latitude of 
forty-two degrees ; and that on the fifth of the same month she anchored 
near the American coast, in a bay situated under the forty '-eighth parallel ; 
that is to say, in the course of sixty hours at furthest, she advanced at least 
three hundred and sixty miles, with the winds blowing violently against her. 
Such a rate of sailing, under such circumstances, could not be attained 
by any vessel at the present time; and when we, moreover, take into con- 
sideration the constant obscurity of the heavens, and the constant agitation 
of the English ship by the waves, which must have rendered it impossi- 
ble to observe the height of the sun, with the best instruments then in 
use, we may safely conclude that the account of the latitudes is erroneous. 
This incongruity is not noticed by Captain Burney, who bases his decis- 
ion entirely upon the authority of the World Encompassed. He considers 
as perfectly " explicit upon the subject" the statement in that narrative, 
that the English " searched the coast diligently, even unto the 4Sth de- 
gree, yet they found not the land to trend so much as one point in any 
place towards the east." He, however, omits the remainder of the sen- 
tence — "but rather running on continually northwest, as if it went directly 



[ 174] 



204 



to meet with Asia," although he must have known that it destroys the 
value of the first part of the evidence, inasmuch as the coast nowhere 
between the 41st and the 47th parallels trends so much as one point to- 
wards the west. 

Burney, moreover, being desirous to establish the character of the World 
Encompassed for correctness, scrupulously abstains from remarks upon 
the accounts given in that work, of the extreme coldness of the air in the 
north Pacific during the summer. That persons coming suddenly from 
the torrid zone into a region 20 degrees farther north should find the 
change of temperature disagreeable, is quite natural ; but that " meat, as 
soon as it was removed from the fire, should presently be frozen up," and 
the ropes and tackling of a vessel be stiffened by ice, during the month of 
June, in any part of the ocean between the 40th and 44th degrees of lati- 
tude, is wholly incredible. 

The opinion that Drake discovered the northwest coast of America as 
far as the 48th degree of latitude was not countenanced by any other 
writers than the three above cited before the year 1750, when it was 
adopted by the compilers of the Biographia Britannica, in their life of the 
hero. Among those who considered the 43d parallel as the northern limit 
of that navigator's course in the Pacific, are De Laet, in his Histoire du 
Nouveau Monde; Ogilby, in his History of America; Heylin, in his Cos- 
mography; Locke, in his History of Navigation; and last, not least, Dr. 
Samuel Johnson, in his Biography of Drake. In the maps of America, 
contained in Heylin's Cosmography,* printed in 1708, and in the curious 
Historical Atlas of Mitchell and Senex, published in 1720, California is 
represented as an island extending from the 23d parallel to the 44th, in 
the northern part of which New Albion is located. These authorities will 
serve at least to show which of the two opinions may be regarded as an 
innovation. 

The question is of little importance. The British Government has, 
however, on many occasions, evinced, indirectly, a desire to found some 
claim to the possession of the northwestern side of America upon the sup- 
posed discoveries of Drake in that quarter. The name New Albion will be 
generally found occupying a large space on all maps of America published 
in Great Britain. In the chart attached to the Journal of Vancouver's ex- 
pedition, the whole of California is thus*designated ; and as recently as 
1827, it has been insisted on the part of the British Government that Great 
Britain had obtained grants of territory on the northwest coast of America, 
from the inhabitants, before the existence of the United States as a nation. 

To conclude: there is no absolute evidence that Drake did not discover 
the northwest American coast as far north as the 48th degree ; but, on the 
other hand, the assertion that he did is not supported by adequate testi- 
mony, and, where originally made, it is accompanied by statements irre- 
concilable with the results of experience. It may be admitted that, the 
English did, in 1579, see the part of that coast included between the 38th 
and the 43d parallels ; but it is equally certain, if not more so, that such 
part had been already discovered by the Spaniards, under Cabrillo and 
Ferrelo, in 1543. 



* It may be here remarked, that in Heylin's map of America, the northwest coast beyond 
California to the extremity of Aliaska, is laid down almost accurately. Yet we have no ac- 
counts of any discoveries in that part of the Pacific of a date earlier than 1741. 



205 



[174] 



B. 

PRETENDED DISCOVERY, BY MALDONADO, OP A NORTHERN PASSAGE BE- 
TWEEN THE ATLANTIC AND THE PACIFIC IN 1588. 

The Spanish manuscript discovered by Amoretti in the Ambrosian 
Library at Milan, and of which he published a French translation in 
1812, (see page 40,) is entitled : " A Relation of the Discovery of the Strait 
of Anian, made by me, Captain Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado, in the year 
1588, in which is written the order of the navigation, the situation of the 
place, and the manner of fortifying it." It consisted of thirty-five para- 
graphs, the most material of which are presented by Burney in his His- 
tory of Voyages in the South Sea, vol. v, page 167 ; they are as follows : 

"By means of this strait, the King would render himself sole master 
of all the spices, and make a profit of five millions annually, by constrain- 
ing other nations to send to Spain to procure them. Spain, therefore, 
ought immediately to set about securing and fortifying this strait. But 

jj it is necessary that I should show the route which must be taken, the 
ports that will be found, and that I add thereto a narration of my voyage. 
" Departing from Spain or Lisbon, the course is to the northwest four 

\ hundred and fifty leagues, by which you will arrive to 60 degrees north 
latitude, where you will have sight of Friesland. Thence, the route must 
be to the west, keeping in the said latitude one hundred and eighty 
leagues to the laud of Labrador, at the place where begins the Strait of 
Labrador. Here are two channels: one leading to the northeast, and the 
other to the northwest. The course must be in that to the northwest, to 
64 degrees, where the channel changes its direction; and you will have 
to sail north one hundred and twenty leagues, to the latitude of 72 de- 
grees. The channel then again turns to the northwest, and you run in 
it to 75 degrees. You then entirely quit the Strait of Labrador, and be- 

i gin to lower your latitude, steering west-by - south three hundred and fifty 

I leagues, to latitude 71 degrees. It was at this place in our voyage that we 
discovered a high land, but we could not discern if it ivas island or con- 
tinent. Nevertheless, we concluded that if it was the main land it would 
be joined to New Spain. From seeing this land, you steer west-south- 
west four hundred and forty leagues, to 60 degrees latitude, where should 
be found the .Strait of Anian. In this manner they will make the same 
navigation which I have made, at least from Friesland to this place. The 

I distance to be sailed, from Spain to the Strait of Anian, is one thousand 
seven hundred and ten leagues. 

" When we went out from the Strait of Labrador, which was at the 
beginning of the month of March, we had much to suffer from the dark- 
ness, the cold, and tempests. Those who think this sea can be entirely 
frozen over are in an error ; for, by reason of its extent, of the great currents 
which are in the strait, and the high waves which keep the sea continu- 

I ally in motion, it cannot be frozen ; but on the shores, and in the places 
where the sea is tranquil, I think it may be frozen. 

" When we were on our return, in the month of June, and in part of 
July, we had continual light, and the sun never descended below the 
horizon, till we were the second time in the middle of the Strait of Labra- 

f dor. Whilst the sun remained continually above the horizon, the air was 
so warm that we had to suffer as much from the heat as in the hottest time 
in Spain. 



[174] 



206 



" The strait which we discovered in 60 degrees north latitude appears 
to be that which, from an ancient tradition, the cosmographers in their 
charts call the Strait of Anian ; and, if it is true that such a strait exists, 
it ought, necessarily, to leave Asia on one side, and America on the other. 
When we went out of the strait into the Great Sea, [the Pacific Ocean,] 
we navigated along the coast of America more than one hundred leagues, 
having our prow to the southwest till we found ourselves in 55 degrees 
latitude. We then left this coast, which we saw prolonged itself towards 
the south, and directed our prow to the west four days, at thirty leagues 
per day, and discovered a large land and great chains of mountains. We 
navigated along it, keeping at a distance, sometimes to the northeast, 
sometimes to the northwest, and sometimes to the north, but in general 
to the northeast. We could not know particular things of this coast, be- 
cause we kept far off from the land. I can only affirm that the country 
is peopled, because in many places we saw men ; and we judged that 
these lands were the lands of the Tartars, or of Catay. At length, fol- 
lowing this same coast, we again found ourselves in the Strait of Anian, 
from which we had gone fifteen days before into the Great Sea, which 
we knew to be the South Sea, where lie the countries of Japan, China, 
the Moluccas, and New Guinea, with the discovery of Captain Quiros, 
and all the western coast of New Spain and Peru. ♦ 

" At the mouth of. the strait by which you enter the South Sea, on the 
American side, is a port capable of containing five hundred ships. The 
country is pleasant ; the temperature agreeable ; the cold of the winter 
not rigorous, though in 59 degrees north latitude, to judge by the kinds 
of fruits which were found. Here are very high trees, some producing 
good fruits like to those in Spain, and others not before known to us. 

" The strait has fifteen leagues of extent, in which it makes six turns 
or angles, and the two entrances are north and south from each other. 
The breadth of the northern entrance is less than half a quarter of a 
league. The southern entrance, which is near the port, is more than a 
quarter of a league in breadth ; and in the middle is a great rock or islot, 
about two hundred paces in diameter, of a circular form, and of the height 
of three stades. The channel, on one side of this islot, is so shallow as 
to be navigable only for boats ; but the channel between the islot and the 
land of America, though not quite half a quarter of a league in breadth, 
has deep water for ships. The borders are low ; and forts might be built 
both on the main land and on the islot, which would straiten the passage 
to within musket shot. The passage might also be shut or locked up 
with a chain across, which with industry might be formed strong enough 
to stand against the currents. 

" It is difficult to know the entrance of the strait on the northern side, 
because the two shores interlock, reciprocally hiding each other. In fact, 
when we first arrived there, we were some days without perceiving it, al- 
though we had already entered, being guided by a good narrative of Juan 
Martinez, pilot-mayor, who was a Portuguese, a native of Algarva, a very 
old man and of much experience. But I have taken marks by the moun- 
tains, to enable me to make another navigation if I should have occasion. 

" In the port where we cast anchor, we lay from the beginning of April 
to the middle of June. At this epoch, we saw come from the South Sea 
to enter the strait a great ship of eight hundred tons, which made us take 
to our arms ; but we reciprocally came to know each other as peaceable 



207 



[ 174 ] 



voyagers. The sailors had the generosity to give us some of the mer- 
chandise of their cargo, which resembled the things which come to us 
from China, as brocades, silks, porcelain, and other effects of value, as 
precious stones and gold. These people appeared to us to be Moscovites, 
or Hanseatics ; that is to say, those who make their residence in the Port 
of Saint Michael, [Hamburg.] They said they came from a large town, 
which was distant from the strait a little more than one hundred leagues, 
where they had left another vessel of their country. We could not ob- 
tain much information from these people, because they spoke to us with 
little confidence and much circumspection; and, for that reason, we soon 
separated, and, having left them near the strait and in the North Sea, we 
took the route for Spain." 

The London Quarterly Review for October, 1816, contains an exposi- 
tion of the numerous falsehoods and blunders contained in this relation, 
and pronounces " the pretended voyage of Maldonado to be the clumsy 
and audacious forgery of some ignorant German, from the circumstance 
of fifteen leagues to the degree being used in some of the computations." 
The reviewer avows his belief that Maldonado did make a voyage in the 
north Pacific, about the end of the 16th century, and that he may possi- 
bly have reached Prince William's Sound or Cook's Inlet, either of which 
might have been then at first mistaken for a strait separating Asia from 
America. 



C. 

ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE OF JUAN DE FUCA IN 1592. 
[Extracted from Purchas's Pilgrims, vol. iii, page 849.*] 

" A Note made by me, Michael Lock, the elder, touching the strait of sea, 
commonly called Prelum Anian, in the South Sea, through the northwest 
passage of Meta Incognita. 

" When I was at Venice, in April, 1596, happily arrived there an old 
man, about sixty years of age, called commonly Juan de Fuca, but named 
properly Apostolos Valerianus, of nation a Greek, born in Gephalonia, of 
profession a mariner, and an ancient pilot of ships. This man, being 
come lately out of Spain, arrived first at Leghorn, and went thence to Flo- 
rence, where he found one John Douglas, an Englishman, a famous mar- 
iner, ready coming for Venice, to be pilot of a Venetian ship for England, 
in whose company they came both together to Venice. And John Dou- 
glas being acquainted with me before, he gave me knowledge of this 
Greek pilot, and brought him to my speech ; and in long talks and confer- 
ence between us, in presence of John Douglas, this Greek pilot declared, 
in the Italian and Spanish languages, thus much in effect as folio weth : 
" First : he said that he had been in the West Indies of Spain forty 
years, and had sailed to and from many places thereof, in the service of 
the Spaniards. 



* The orthography of the English is modernized; the letters are, however, given in their 
■ original Spanish-Italian lingua franca. 



[ It* ] 



208 



" Also, he said that he was in the Spanish ship which, in returning 
from the Islands Philippinas, towards Nova Spania, was robbed and taken 
at the Cape California by Captain Candish, Englishman, whereby he lost 
sixty thousand ducats of his own goods. 

" Also, he said that he was pilot of three small ships, which the Viceroy 
of Mexico sent from Mexico, armed with one hundred men, under a cap- 
tain, Spaniards, to discover the Straits of Anian, along the coast of the 
South Sea, and to fortify in that strait, to resist the passage and proceed- 
ings of the English nation, which were feared to pass through those 
straits into the South Sea ; and that, by reason of a mutiny which hap- 
pened among the soldiers for the misconduct of their captain, that voyage 
was overthrown, and the ship returned from California to Nova Spania, 
without any thing done in that voyage; and that, after their return, the 
captain was at Mexico punished by justice. 

" Also, he said that shortly after the said voyage was so ill ended, the 
said Viceroy of Mexico sent him out again in 1592, with a small caravel 
and a pinnace, armed with mariners only, to follow the said voyage for the 
discovery of the Straits of Anian, and the passage thereof into the sea, 
which they call the No?*th Sea, which is our northwest sea; and that he 
followed his course in that voyage, west and northwest in the South Sea, 
all along the coast of Nova Spania, and California, and the Indies, now 
called North America, (all which voyage he signified to me in a great 
map, and a sea card of mine own, which I laid before him,) until he came 
to the latitude of 47 degrees ; and that there finding that the land trended 
north and northeast, with a broad inlet of sea, between 47 and 48 degrees 
of latitude, he entered thereinto, sailing therein more than twenty days, 
and found that land trending still sometime northwest and northeast, and 
north, and also east and southeastward, and very much broader sea than 
was at the said entrance, and that he passed by divers islands in that sail- 
ing; and that at the entrance of this said strait, there is, on the northwest 
coast thereof, a great headland or island, with an exceeding high pinnacle, 
or spired rock, like a pillar thereupon. 

" Also, he said that he went on land in divers places, and that he saw 
some people on land clad in beasts' skins; and that the land is very fruit- 
ful, and rich of gold, silver, pearls, and other things, like Nova Spania. 

" And also, he said that he being entered thus far into the said strait, 
and being come into the North Sea already, and finding the sea wide 
enough everywhere, and to be about thirty or forty leagues wide in the 
mouth of the straits, where he entered, he thought he had now well 
discharged his office ; and that not being armed to resist the force of the 
savage people, that might happen, he therefore set sail, and returned home- 
wards again towards Nova Spania ; where he arrived at Acapidco, anno 
1592, hoping to be rewarded by the Viceroy for this service done in the 
said voyage. 

" Also, he said that after coming to Mexico, he was greatly welcomed 
by the Viceroy, and had promises of great reward ; but that having sued 
there two years, and obtained nothing to his content, the Viceroy told him 
that he should be rewarded in Spain, of the King himself, very greatly, 
and willed him therefore to go to Spain ; which voyage he did perform. 

" Also, he said that when he was come into Spain, he was welcomed 
there at the King's court ; but after long suit there also, he could not get 
any reward there to his content ; and, therefore, at length he stole away 



209 



[ 174] 



out of Spain, and came into Italy, to go home again and live among his 
own kindred and countrymen, he being very old. 

" Also, he said that he thought the cause of his ill reward had of the 
Spaniards, to be for that they did understand very well that the English 
nation had now given over all their voyages for discovery of the north- 
west passage ; wherefore they need not fear them any more to come that 
way into the South Sea, and, therefore, they needed not his service therein 
any more. 

" Also, he said that, understanding the noble mind of the Queen of 
England, and of her wars against the Spaniards, and hoping that her 
Majesty would do him justice for his goods lost by Captain Candish, he 
would be content to go into England, and serve her Majesty in that voy- 
age for the discovery perfectly of the northwest passage into the South 
Sea, if she would furnish him with only one ship of forty tons burden 
and a pinnace ; and that he would perform it in thirty days time, from one 
end to the other of the strait ; and he willed me so to write to England. 

" And upon conference had twice with the said Greek pilot, I did write 
thereof accordingly to England, unto the right honorable the old Lord 
Treasurer Cecil, and to Sir Walter Raleigh, and to Master Richard Hak- 
luyt, that famous cosmographer, certifying them hereof. And I prayed 
them to disburse one hundred pounds, to bring the said Greek pilot into 
England with myself, for that my own purse would not stretch so wide at 
that time. And I had answer that this action was well liked, and greatly 
desired in England ; but the money was not ready, and therefore this 
action died at that time, though the said Greek pilot perchance liveth still 
in his own country, in Cephalonia, towards which place he went within 
a fortnight after this conference had at Venice. 

" And in the mean time, while I followed my own business in Venice, 
being in a lawsuit against the company of merchants of Turkey, to re- 
cover my pension due for being their consul at Aleppo, which they held 
from me wrongfully ; and when I was in readiness to return to England, 
I thought 1 should be able of my own purse to take with me the said 
Greek pilot; and, therefore, I wrote unto him from Venice a letter, dated 
July, 1596, which is copied here under : 

* " Al Mag 00 - Sig or - Capitan Juan de Fuca, Piloto de India, amigo rnio 

char 1710 en Zefalonia. 

"Muy Honrado Sennor: Siendo yo para buelverme en Inglatierra den- 
tre de pocas mezes, y accuerdandome de lo trattado entre my y V. M. en 
Venesia sobre el viagio de las Indias, me ha parescido bien de scrivir esta 
carta aV. M. para que se tengais animo de andar con migo, puedais escri- 



* To the Magnificent Captain Juan de Fuca, Pilot of the Indies; my most dear friend in Cepha- 

Ionia. 

Most Honored Sir: Being about to return to England in a few months, and recollecting 
what passed between yon and myself at Venice respecting the voyage to the Indies, I have 
thought proper to write you this letttr, so that if you have a mind to go with me, you can write 
me worddirec.lv how we are to arrange. You may send me your letter with this English ves- 
sel, which is at Zante, (if you should find no better opportunity,) directed to the care of Mr. 
Eleazer Hycknian, an English merchant, Saint Thomas street, Venice. God preserve you, sir, 
Your friend , 

MICHAEL LOCK, of England. 

Venice, July 1, 1596. 



[174] 



210 



birme presto en que maniera quereis consertaros. Y puedais embiarmi 
vuestra carta con esta nao Ingles, que sta al Zante (sino hallais otra coi- 
untura nieior) con el sobrescritto que diga en casa del Sennor Eleazar 
Hycman, mercader Ingles, al tragetto de San Tomas en Venisia. Y Dios 
guarde la persona de V. M. Fecha en Venesia al primer dia de Julio, 
1596 armos. 

" Amigo de V. M., 

" MICHAEL LOCK, Ingles, 

" And I sent the said letter from Venice to Zante in the ship Cherubin ; 
and shortly after I sent a copy thereof in the ship Minion ; and also a third 
copy thereof by Manea Orlando, patron de nave Venetian. And unto my 
said letters he wrote me answer to Venice by one letter, which came not 
to my hands ; and also by another letter, which came to my hands ; which 
is copied here under : 

# "Al lll m0 - Sig or - Michael Lock, Ingles, in casa del Sig or - Lasaro, merca- 
der Ingles, al tragetto de San Tomas en Venesia. 

" Muy Illustre Sig or : La carta de V. M. recevi a 20 dias del mese 
di Settembre, por loqual veo loche V. M. me manda. Io tengho animo de 
complir loche tengo promettido a V. M. y no solo yo, mas tengo vinte horn- 
bres para lievar con migo, porche son hombres vaglientes ; y assi estoi 
esperando por otra carta che avise a V. M. parache me embiais los dinieros 
che tengo escritto a V. M. Porche bien save V. M. como io vine pover, 
porque me glievo Captain Candis mas de sessenta mille ducados, como 
V. M. bien save ; embiandome lo dicho, ire a servir a V. M. con todos mis 
compagneros. I no spero otra cosa mas de la voluntad e carta de V. M. 
con tanto nostro Sig or Dios guarda la illustre persona de V. M. muchos 
annos. De CerTalonia a 24 de Settembre del 1596. 

" Amigo y servitor de V. M., 

"JUAN FUCA. 

" And the said letter came into my hands in Venice, the 16th day of 
November, 1596; but my lawsuit with the company of Turkey was not 
ended, by reason of Sir John Spenser's suit, made in England at the 
Queen's court to the contrary, seeking only to have his money dis- 
charged, which I had attached in Venice for my said pension, and thereby 
my own purse was not yet ready for the Greek pilot. 

a And, nevertheless, hoping that my said suit would have shortly a good 



* To the Illustrious Michael Lock, Englishman, at the house of Mr. Lazaro, English merchant, in 

Saint Thomas street, Venice. 

Most Illustrious Sir: Your letter was received by me on the 20th of September, by which I 
am informed of what you communicate. I have a mind to comply with my promise to you; 
and have not only myself, but twenty men, (brave men, too,) whom I can carry with ; so, I 
am waiting for another letter from you, about the money which I asked you to send me. For, 
you know well, sir, how I became poor, in consequence of Captain Candish's having taken 
from me more than sixty thousand ducats, as you know. If you will send me what I asked, I 
will go with you, as well as all my companions. I expect no more from your kindness, or from 
the tenor of your letter. God preserve you, most illustrious sir, for many years. 
Your friend and servant, 

JUAN FUCA. 

Cephalonia, September 24, 1596. 



211 



[ 174] 



end, I wrote another letter to this Greek pilot from Venice, dated the 20th 
of November, 1596, which came not to his hands; and, also, another letter, 

; dated the 24th of January, 1 596, which came to his hands. And thereof 

1 he wrote me answer, dated the 28th of May, 1597, which I received the 
1st of August, 1597, by Thomas Norden, an English merchant, yet living 

| in London, wherein he promised still to go with me unto England, to 
perform the said voyage for discovery of the northwest passage into the 

I South Sea, if I would send him money for his charges, according to his 
former writing, without which money he said he could not go, for that as 
he was undone utterly when he was in the ship Santa Anna, which came 
from China, and was robbed at California. And yet again afterward I 
wrote him another letter from Venice, whereunto he wrote me answer by 
a letter written in his Greek language, dated the 20th of October, 1598, 
the which I have still by me, wherein he promiseth still to go with me 
into England, and perform the said voyage of discovery of the northwest 
passage into the South Sea by the said straits, which he calleth the Strait 
of Nova Spania, which he saith is but thirty days' voyage in the straits, if 
I will send him the money formerly written for his charges ; the which 
money I could not yet send him, for that I had not yet recovered my pen- 
sion owing me by the company of Turkey aforesaid ; and so, of long time, 
I staid any further proceeding with him in this matter. 

" And yet, lastly, when I myself was at Zante in the month of June, 
1602, minding to pass from thence for England by sea, for that I had then 
recovered a little money from the company of Turkey, by an order of the 
Lords of the Privy Council of England, I wrote another letter to this 
Greek pilot to Cephalonia, and required him to come to me to Zante, and 
go with me into England, but I had no answer thereof from him ; for that, 
as I heard afterward at Zante, he was then dead, or very likely to die of 
great sickness. Whereupon, I returned myself by sea from Zante to 
Venice, and from thence I went by land through France into England, 
where I arrived at Christmas, anno 1602; safely, I thank God, after my 
absence from thence ten years' time, with great troubles had for the com- 
pany of Turkey's business, which hath cost me a great sum of money, 
for the which I am not yet satisfied of them." 



D. 

OCCURRENCES AT NOOTKA SOUND IN 1789 AND 1792. 

(i.O 

Translation of a letter from, Don J. F. de la Bodega y Quadra, the Span- 
ish commandant at Nootka Sound, to Captains Gray and Ingraham, 
commanding the American merchant vessels Columbia and Washington, 
then lying in that harbor. 

Nootka, August 2, 1792. 

In order to satisfy the Court of England, as is just, for the injury, dam- 
ages, and usurpation, which it conceives itself to have sustained at this 
port in the year 1789, I have to request of you, gentlemen, the favor to 
inform me, with that sincerity which distinguishes you, and which is 



« 



[174] 



212 



conformable with truth and honor, wherefore Don Esteban Jose Martinez 
seized the vessels of Colnett, the Iphigenia and the Northwest America? 
What establishment or building did Mr. Meares have, on the arrival of 
the Spaniards? What territories are those which he says that he pur- 
chased from Maquinna, Yuquiniarri, or any other chief of these tribes ? 
With what objects were the crew of the Northwest America transferred 
to the Columbia; and were ninety-six skins placed on board that ship? 
Finally, what was the whole amount of skins carried by you to China, 
and to whom did they belong?* 

Your most obedient and assured servant, 

JUAN FRANCISCO DE LA BODEGA Y QUADRA. 

To Captains Robert Gray and Joseph Ingraham. 



(2.) 

Reply to the preceding letter. ~\ 

Nootka Sound, August 3, 1792. 

Sir : Your esteemed favor was handed to us yesterday, requesting from 
us information relative to the transactions between the English and Span- 
iards in this sound in the year 1789, which we will do with great pleas- 
ure, and impartially, as you request. 

On the 5th of May, 1789, when Don Estevan Jose Martinez arrived in 
Friendly Cove, he found riding at anchor there the Iphigenia only; the 
ship Columbia being at Mahwhinna, five miles up the sound. The sloop 
Washington and Northwest America (schooner) were on a cruise. This 
information is necessary in order to regulate the sequel of the present. After 
the usual ceremonies of meeting were over, Don Martinez requested the 
papers of each vessel, and demanded why they were at anchor in Nootka 
Sound, alleging it belonged to his Catholic Majesty. Captain Viana, 
who passed as commander of the Iphigenia, answered, they had put in, 
being in distress, having but little provisions, and in great want of every 
necessary, such as cables, anchors, rigging, sails, &c. ; that they were in 
daily expectation of the arrival of Captain Meares from Macao to supply 
them, when they should depart.! Captain Meares was expected to return 
in the same vessel he sailed in from hence in the year 1788, which was 
under the Portuguese colors, and had a Portuguese captain on board ; 
this vessel with the Iphigenia were said to belong to one Cravalia, or Ca- 
vallo, a merchant of Macao, in whose name the Iphigenia's papers were 
made out. Seeing the Iphigenia was in such want, Don Martinez gave 
them a temporary assistance, by supplying them with such articles as they 
were most in want, till the vessel before mentioned should arrive. At this 



* The original letter is attached to the Journal of Captain Ingraham, which is now in the of- 
fice of the Secretary of Slate, at Washington. 

t Copied from Ingraham's Journal. This letter is now for the first time published. An incor- 
rect synopsis of it may be found in the Journal of Vancouver's Voyage, vol. i, pa^e 389. Some 
of the discrepancies between which and the letter will be here indi< ated by the notes. 

t Vancouver renders this passage as follows: " Captain Viana, of the Portuguese vessel, an- 
swered, that he had put in there in distress, to await the arrival of Captain Meares from Ma- 
cao;" omitting, as he does throughout his synopsis, all the particulars calculated to show ihe 
miserable condition of the Iphigenia, and the extent of the assistance afforded by the Spaniards. 



213 



[174] 



time there was not the least suspicion of any misunderstanding or disturb- 
ance among us, as Dor/ Martinez was apparently satisfied with the an- 
swers each vessel had given to his request. 

However, on the 10th of May, the San Carlos, Captain Arrow, [Haro,] 
arrived. The same day the American officers came to Uquot, or Friendly 
Cove, to welcome them in, and the next morning, the 11th of May, Don 
Martinez captured the Iphigenia, and his reason, as we understood, was, 
that, in their Portuguese instructions, they had orders to capture any 
English, Spanish, or Russian subjects they met on the northwest coast 
of America. This, at the time, seemed improbable, as she was a vessel 
of small force, and it was afterwards found to have been a mistake, ow- 
ing to their want of a perfect knowledge of the Portuguese language. 
However, after the vessel was taken, the officers and seamen were di- 
vided, some on board the Princesa, and some on board the San Carlos, 
where they were treated with all imaginable kindness and every attention 
paid them. 

m On the 24th of May the abovementioned mistake being discovered, the 
Iphigenia was returned again and the Portuguese flag hoisted on board 
her; the same day, Captain Douglas, with the Portuguese captain and sea- 
men, repaired on board. The Iphigenia, while in possession of the Span- 
iards, from being a wreck was put in complete order for sea, being calked, 
rigging and sails repaired, anchors and cables sent from the Princesa, dec. 
On the 26th Don Martinez supplied them with every kind of provisions 
they were in need of, for which Captain Douglas gave him bills on Cra- 
vallia, the beforementioned merchant of Macao. On the 31st the Iphi- 
genia sailed, and was saluted by the Spanish fort ; and the commodore ac- 
companied them out of the harbor, giving every assistance with boats, &c. 
When Captain Douglas took his leave of the commodore, he declared he 
should ever entertain a sense of Don Martinez's kindness, deeming his 
conduct relative to the vessel no more than his duty as a king's officer. 
Upon the whole, we both believe the Iphigenia's being detained was of 
infinite service to those who were concerned in her. This must be plain 
to every one who will consider the situation of the vessel when the Prin- 
cesa arrived, and the advantages reaped from the supplies and assistance 
of the Spaniards. The detention, if it may be called so, could be no det- 
riment ; for, had nothing taken place, she must have remained two months 
longer at least, having, as has already been mentioned, put into port, be- 
ing in distress ; of course they could not have sailed till supplies arrived, 
which was not till July, as will appear in the sequel ; whereas, being 
early fitted as above mentioned, she sailed on the coast northward of 
Nootka Sound, and there being no other vessel there, they collected up- 
wards of seven hundred sea-otter skins ; which has been often represent- 
ed to us by Captain Douglas and his officers, after our arrival in China. 
This may suffice for the transactions relative to the Iphigenia. Before 
Captain Douglas sailed, he gave Don Estevan Martinez a letter to Mr. 
Funter, master of the schooner Northwest America, telling him, from Cap- 



* Of the whole of this paragraph, all that is said by Vancouver is: "The vessel and cargo 
were liberated, and Martinez supplied the Iphigenia's wants from the Princesa, enabling her, 
by so doing, to prosecute her voyage without waiting for the return of Mr. Meares." The ex- 
tremity of distress to which the Iphigenia was reduced on her arrival at Nootka, the seven hun- 
dred sea-otter skins, and the other advantages derived by her owners from the supplies fur- 
nished by the Span i^h commandant, are carefully kept out of sight. 



[H4] 



214 



tain Meares not arriving at the appointed time, there was great reason to 
fear the vessel he sailed from Nootka in had never reached China, (she be- 
ing in bad condition when she sailed from this place ;) therefore, as he, 
Mr. Funter, must, on his arrival, be destitute of every necessary, he was 
at liberty to conduct as he thought most conducive to the interests of his 
employers. We shall make mention of this vessel again hereafter. 

Interim, we observe your wish to be acquainted what house or estab- 
lishment Mr. Meares had at the time the Spaniards arrived here? We 
answer in a word — none. On the arrival of the Columbia in the year 
1788, there was a house, or rather a hut, consisting of rough posts 
covered with boards made by the Indians ; but this Captain Douglas 
pulled to pieces prior to his sailing for the Sandwich Islands the same 
year. The boards he took on board the Iphigenia, and the roof he gave 
to Captain Kendrick, which was cut up and used as firewood on board the 
Columbia; so that, on the arrival of Don Estevan J. Martinez, there was 
no vestige of any house remaining. As to the land Mr. Meares said he 
purchased of Maquinna or any other chief, we cannot say further than 
we never heard of any; although we remained among these people nine 
months; and could converse with them perfectly well. Besides this, Ave 
have asked Maquinna and other chiefs, since our late arrival, if Captain 
Meares ever purchased any land in Nootka Sound ; they answered — no, 
that Captain Kendrick was the only man to whom they had ever sold 
any land. 

On the 8th of June the schooner Northwest America arrived, and the 
next day the Spaniards took possession of her. Don E. J. Martinez had 
an account taken of the property on board, particularly of the skins, 
which he said should be given to the officers and seamen, that they 
might be sure of their wages. On the 16th of June the sloop Princess 
Royal arrived from Macao, commanded by Thomas Hudson ; this vessel 
Brought accounts of the safe arrival of Captain Meares, and that Captain 
Colnett was coming on the coast, commodore of the English trading-ves- 
sels from Macao, for the ensuing season, in a snow named the Argonaut. 
Mr. Hudson likewise brought accounts of the failure of Juan Cravallia 
& Co., merchants of Macao before mentioned. What right the commo- 
dore had to detain the Northwest America before, it is not for us to say ; 
but he always said it was an agreement* between Captain Douglas and 
himself; but, after the arrival of this vessel with the above news, he held 
her as security for the bills of exchange drawn on said Cravallia & Co. 
in favor of his Catholic Majesty : this we have heard him say. On the 
2d of July the Princess Royal sailed out of the port, having, to our 
knowledge, been treated by the commodore and his officers with every 
possible attention, which Captain Hudson himself seemed conscious of 
and grateful for. Prior to this vessel's sailing, the commodore gave to 
Mr. Funterf all the skins he brought in, in the Northwest America,, which 
were shipped on board the sloop Princess Royal by Mr. Funter, for his 
own account. In the evening of the 2d a sail was descried from the 
Spanish fort; we were among the first that went out to meet them ; it 
proved to be the Argonaut, Captain Colnett, before mentioned. The 
transactions of this vessel were such, that we can give the sense of theni 



* Of this supposed agreement Vancouver says nothing, 
t Nothing of this in Vancouver's synopsis. 



215 



[ 174] 



in a few words, that may answer every purpose of the particulars, many 
of which are not immediately to the point, or tending to what we suppose 

; you wish to know. 

It seems Captain Meares, with some other Englishmen at Macao, had 

I concluded to erect a fort and settle a colony in Nootka Sound ; from 
what authority we cannot say. However, on the arrival of the Argonaut, 
we heard Captain Colnett inform the Spanish commodore he had come 
for that purpose, and to hoist the British flag, take formal possession, &c. 
To which the commodore answered, he had taken possesssion already in 

I the name of his Catholic Majesty ; on which, Captain Colnett asked if he 
would be prevented from building a house in the port. The commodore, 
mistaking his meaning, answered him, he was at liberty to erect a tent, 
get wood and water, &c, after which he was at liberty to depart when he 
pleased ; but Captain Colnett said that was not what he wanted, but to 
build a block-house, erect a fort, and settle a colony for the Crown of 
Great Britain. Don Estevan Jose Martinez answered no; that, in doing 

I that, he should violate the orders of his King, run a risk of losing his 
commission, and, not only that, but it would be relinquishing the Span- 
iards' claim to the coast ; besides, Don Martinez observed, the vessels did 
not belong to the King, nor was he intrusted with powers to transact 
such public business. On which, Captain Colnett answered, he was a 
King's officer ; but Don Estevan replied, his being in the navy was of no 
consequence in the business. # In conversing on the subject, after the 
arrival of the vessel in port, it seems Captain Colnett insulted the com- 
modore by threatening him, and drew his sword in the Princesa's cabin ; 
on which Don Martinez ordered the vessel to be seized. We did not see 
him draw his sword, but were informed of the circumstance by those 
whose veracity we had no reason to doubt. After seizing the Argonaut, 
the sloop Princess Royal arrived a second time; and, as she belonged to 
the same company, the commodore took possession of her also. With re- 
spect to the treatment of the prisoners, although we have not perused Mr. 
Meares's publication, we presume none of them will be backward in con- 
fessing that Don E. J. Martinez always treated them very kindly, and all 
his officers consistent with the character of gentlemen. 

Having acquainted you with the principal part of the business, agree- 
able to request, one thing remains to answer — which is, of the captain, of- 
ficers, and seamen of the Northwest America. You ask if we carried' 
them to China? We did, and with them one hundred sea-otter skins, 
the value of which we judge, independent of freight, was $4,875 ; these 
were delivered to Mr. Meares, and were, we suppose, his property. We 
sincerely hope, sir, when things are represented with truth, it will rescue 
our friend Don Estevan J. Martinez from censure ; at least, that he may 
not be deemed an impostor and a pirate, which many, from only hearing; 
one part of the story, supposed he was. As to the treatment of the Ameri- 

| cans by Don Estevan, we have ever testified it in terms due to such hos- 
pitality, and are happy again to have it in our power to do what we deem 



* Vancouver here writes, using the first person as if copying the words of the American 
captains: " In conversation afterwards on this subject, as we were informed, (say these gentle- 
men,) for we were not present during this transaction, some dispute arose in the Prineesa^ 
cabin; on which Don Martinez ordered the Argonaut to be seized. Soon after this the Prin- 
cess Royal returned," -fee. The rumor that " Colnett insulted the commoeUre by threatening himf 
and drew his sword in the Princesa's cabin" being omitted. 



[ 174] 



216 



justice to his conduct. While speaking of others of your nation, we can 
never be unmindful of you ; your kind reception and treatment of us has 
made an impression that will not be easily erased ; and we hope you will 
bear in mind how very sincerely we are, sir, your most humble servants, 

ROBERT GRAY, 
JOSEPH INGRAHAM. 
To Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra. 



E. 

RESPECTING THE SUPPOSED SETTLEMENT OF BOUNDARIES BETWEEN 
THE FRENCH AND BRITISH POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA, AGREEABLY TO 
THE PROVISIONS TO THAT EFFECT IN THE TREATY OF UTRECHT. 
(SEE PAGE 150.) 

No allusion to the settlement of boundaries between the British and 
French possessions in America, agreeably to the tenth article of the treaty 
concluded at Utrecht, in 1714, or to the appointment of commissaries for 
that purpose, has been found in any of the following works, which have 
been all carefully examined with reference to the subject, viz : 

Corps Diplomatique, by Dumont ; Collection de Traites, by Martens ; Col- 
lections of British Treaties, by Wilkinson and Hertslet; Actes, Memoires, 
&c. , concernant la Paix d'Utrecht ; Actes, Negociations, &c, depuis la Paix 
d'Utrecht, by Rousset; Memoires des Commissaires Anglais et Francais, 
&/C, published in 1754; Collection des Edits, Ordonnances,&c, concern- 
ant le Canada; Histoire de laLouisiane, by Dupratz; Histoirede laLouis- 
iane, by Marbois ; Memoire sur la Louisiane, by Dumont ; Memoire sur 
la Louisiane, by Vergennes ; Histoire des Indes, &c, by Raynal ; the 
Encyclopedic Methodique ; Histories of England, by Smollett, Belsham, 
Lord Mahon, and Wade; Parliamentary History of England; History of 
the British Empire in America, by Wynne ; History of Hudson's Bay, by 
Dobbs; Boyer's Political State — the volume for 1721 contains memoirs of 
Louisiana, and a map of that country ; American Traveller, by Cluny ; 
the large historical and geographical atlas by Mitchell and Senex, pub- 
lished at London in 1721, containing particular accounts and maps of the 
British and the French possessions in America ; Civil and Natural History 
of the French Dominions in America, by Jeffries — a comprehensive work, 
containing numerous maps, published in 1760; American atlas, by Jef- 
fries, published in 1778; Alcedo's Dictionary of America; map of North 
America, (the largest and most beautiful ever published,) by Henry Pop- 
ple, which appeared in 1738, under the auspices of the Colonial Depart- 
ment of Great Britain ; map of America, published in 1794 from the ma- 
terials of Governor Pownal ; — or in any other works or maps which could 
be considered as authorities on the subject, except those now to be men- 
tioned. 

Charlevoix, in his Histoire de la Nouvelle France* says that commis- 
saries were appointed in 1719 by the Governments of Great Britain and 



* Alluding to disputes between the British and the Indians in Nova Scotia, Charlevoix says, 
(vol. iv, page 124:) " La France n'entrait point dans ce demele, pour ne point donner le moindie 
pretexte de rompre la bonne intelligence qu'il avait tant coute de retablir, entre les deux Cou- 

ronnes ; on cessa meme de negocier dans les deux Cours, le reglement des limites, quoique des Vannee 
1719 il y eut des commissaires nommes pour cela depart et d'autre," 



217 



[174] 



France to determine the limits between the possessions of the two Powers 
in America ; but that all negotiations on that subject ended in 1722, in 
consequence of the desire of those Courts to avoid causes of dissatisfac- 
tion. Whether or not any settlement of boundaries was effected, he does 
not directly say ; but from his language it is to be inferred that those ques- 
tions were left undetermined. In the maps attached to his work, no line 
appears as the limit between the Hudson's Bay territory and the posses- 
sions of France. 

The Dictionary of Commerce, translated by M. Postlewhaite from the 
French of Savary, with alterations and amendments, and published in 
1751, contains no allusion to the southern limits of the Hudson's Bay ter- 
ritories, although a large portion of the work is devoted to the subject 
of the British and French possessions in America ; but in the large map 
of America, attached to the Dictionary, which is there stated to have been 
copied, with corrections, from one then recently published at Paris (in 
1746) by D'Anville, a line is laid down as the limit between the Hudson's 
Bay countries and the French dominions. The part of this line extend- 
ing north and northwest of Lake Superior, runs nearly, but not exactly, 
along the 4yth parallel ; and a note on the map says " the line that parts 
French Canada from British Ca?iada was settled by commissaries after the 
peace of Utrecht, making a curve from Davis's Inlet, in the Atlantic Sea, 
down to the Lake Abitibis, to the Northwest Ocean; therefore M. D' ' Anville's 
dotted line east of James's Bay is false" No copy of D'Anville's map 
has been found ; but the above note appears to show that the line west of 
James's Bay is given by Postlewhaite as represented by the French ge- 
ographer. 

Postlewhaite 's assertion is, however, directly contradicted by John 
Mitchell, whose large map of America, published in 1755, under the im- 
mediate patronage of the Colonial Department of Great Britain, is gener- 
ally considered as the best authority with regard to the political geography 
of America, at that period. In this map, a line drawn irregularly from the 
Atlantic along the highlands, or supposed highlands, dividing the waters 
falling into Hudson's Bay from those emptying into the great lakes, the 
St. Lawrence, or the Mississippi, is given as "the bounds of Hudson's Bay 
by the treaty of Utrecht." This line runs around Hudson's Bay, nearly at 
the same distance from the shores of that sea only, in its whole course ; and 
a very small part of it passes as far south as the 49th parallel. The boun- 
dary, thus given by Mitchell, is adopted in the map prefixed to Russell's 
History of America, in those published by Bennet in 1770, by Faden in 
1777, and in other maps. 

In a map of the British possessions in America, as settled by the treaty 
of 1763, published at London in 1775 by Eman Bo wen and John Gib- 
son, a line running along the 49th parallel, from a point immediately 
south of the southern extremity of James's Bay, westward to the Red 
River, and then northward, down that stream, to Lake Winnipeg, is given 
as the southern limit of the Hudson's Bay territory, agreeably to the 
treaty of Utrecht; and this is the earliest distinct declaration which has 
been discovered of the adoption of any part of that parallel precisely, as a 
boundary in North America. 

Thus it appears that all the most accredited authorities, with the ex- 
ception of Mitchell, are against the supposition that any boundary between 
the British and the French dominions in America was settled agreeably 



[174] 



218 



to the treaty of Utrecht ; and that Mitchell represents the Hudson's Bay 
territories as separated from the French possessions by an irregular line 
drawn along the course of the highlands surrounding, or supposed to sur- 
round, that sea. 

In support of the opinion that no such boundary was settled, may be- 
cked the following remarks upon that article, extracted from Anderson's 
elaborate History of Commerce, vol. iii, page 267 : " Though the French 
King yielded to the Queen of Great Britain, to be possessed by her in full 
right, for ever, the Bay and Straits of Hudson, and all parts thereof, and 
within the same, then possessed by France, yet leaving the boundaries 
between Hudson's Bay and the north parts of Canada belonging to France, 
to be determined by commissaries within a year, was, in effect, the same 
thing as giving up the point altogether; it being well known to all Europe, 
that France never permits her commissaries to determine matters refer- 
red to such, unless it can be done with great advantage to her. Those 
boundaries, therefore, have never yet been settled, though both British 
and French subjects are by that article expressly debarred from passing- 
over the same, or thereby to go to each other by sea or land. These com- 
missaries were likewise to settle the boundaries between the other British 
and French colonies on that continent; which, likewise, was never done." 
The correctness of the concluding part of these remarks is well known; 
and it is scarcely probable that either of the Powers would have assented 
to a partial determination of boundaries. The remarks of Anderson are 
incorporated in Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, published in 1805. 

Maps, which are so frequently consulted on the subject of boundaries, 
and which, therefore, ought to be the best authorities, are, unfortunately, 
in general the very worst, as they are for the most part made by persons 
unacquainted with political history. Of the truth of this assertion innu- 
merable instances might be adduced. In a large and beautifully engraved 
map of the United States, published at Philadelphia in 1821, "from the 

most undoubted authorities, by geographer and draughtsman" 

the northern boundary of the part of the United States west of the Missis- 
sippi, is represented by a line drawn westward from the sources of that 
river nearly under the latitude of 47 degrees and 40 minutes ; the country 
north of this line being stated to be "in dispute between Spain and Great 
Britain" Now, three years before this map appeared, the boundary be- 
tween the United States and the British possessions in that part of Ameri- 
ca, had been fixed by treaty ; according to which, the dividing-line followed 
the course of the 49th parallel ; and two years before the date of the map. 
Spain had also, by treaty, ceded to the United States her rights to all ter- 
ritories in America north of the 42d parallel. These treaties had been pub- 
lished ; and it is scarcely credible that they should have been unknown 
to an American geographer engaged in preparing a map of the United 
States. The French have made great use of maps, and have had maps 
made for use in their negotiations about boundaries with Great Britain, 
Books of geography are also in general incorrect as regards boundaries. 
In the Encyclopoedia of Geography, published at Edinburgh m 1834^by 
Hugh Murray, and other scientific persons, we find it stated, (page 1374,) 
that "the whole Tegion west of the Rocky Mountains, extending between 
the 42d and the 49th parallels of latitude, has, by discovery and treaty, been 
assigned to the United States." Abatement to the same effect may be 
found in the London Quarterly Review for January, 1822. 



219 



[174] 



F. 

TREATIES AND CONVENTIONS BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS OP DIFFER- 
ENT NATIONS, RELATING TO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES OF NORTH 
AMERICA. 

(ij 

Convention between Great Britain and Spain, signed at the Escurial, Oc- 
tober 28, 1790, may be found at length in the Memoir, page 114. 

■ 

(2.) 

Convention between the United States of America and Great Britain, signed 
at London, October 20, 1818. 

" Art. 2. It is agreed that a line drawn from the most northwestern 
point of the Lake of the Woods, along the 49th parallel of north latitude, 
or, if the said point shall not be in the 49th parallel of north latitude, then 
that a line drawn from the said point due north or south, as the case may 
be, until the said line shall intersect the said parallel of north latitude, and 
from the point of such intersection due west along and with the said par- 
allel, shall be the line of demarcation between the territories of the Uni- 
ted States and those of his Britannic Majesty; and that the said line shall 
form the northern boundary of the said territories of the United States, 
and the southern boundary of the territories of his Britannic Majesty, from 
the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains. 

" Art. 3. It is agreed that any country that may be claimed by either 
party on the northwest coast of America, westward of the Stony Moun- 
tains, shall, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the naviga- 
tion of all rivers within the same, be free and open for the term of ten 
years from the date of the signature of the present convention, to the ves- 
sels, citizens, and subjects of the two Powers ; it being well understood 
that this agreement is not to be construed to the prejudice of any claim 
which either of the two high contracting parties may have to any part of 
the said country, nor shall it be taken to affect the claims of any other 
Power or State to any part of the said country; the only object of the 
high contracting parties, in that respect, being to prevent disputes and dif- 
ferences among themselves." 

(3.) 

Treaty of amity, settlement, and limits, bettveen the United States and 
Spain, {commonly called the Florida Treaty}) signed at Washington, 
February 22, 1819. 

"Art. 3. The boundary-line between the two countries, west of the 
Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the River 
Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the western bank of that river, 
to the 32d degree of latitude ; thence, by a line due north, to the degree 
of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Natchitoches, or Red River; 
then, following the course of the Rio Roxo westward, to the degree of 
longitude 100 west from London and 23 from Washington ; then crossing 



[174] 



the said Red River, and running thence, by a line due north, to the River 
Arkansas ; thence following the course of the southern bank of the Ar- 
kansas to its source in latitude 42 north ; and thence, by that parallel of 
latitude, to the South Sea ; the whole being as laid down in Melish r s 
map of the United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the 1st 
of January, 1818. But, if the source of the Arkansas River shall be found 
to fall north or south of latitude 42, then the line shall run from the said 
source due south or north, as the case may be, till it meets the said paral- 
lel of latitude 42, and thence, along the said parallel, to the South Sea. 
All the islands in the Sabine, and the said Red and Arkansas Rivers, 
throughout the course thus described, to belong to the United States ; but 
the use of the waters and the navigation of the Sabine to the sea, and of 
the said Rivers Roxo and Arkansas, throughout the extent of the said 
boundary, on their respective banks, shall be common to the respective 
inhabitants of both nations. 

" The two high contracting parties agree to cede and renounce all their 
rights, claims, and pretensions to the territories described by the said 
line ; that is to say, the United States hereby cede to his Catholic Majesty, 
and renounce forever all their rights, claims, and pretensions to the terri- 
tories lying west and south of the above described line ; and, in like man- 
ner, his Catholic Majesty cedes to the said United States all his rights, 
claims, and pretensions to any territories east and north of the said line ; 
and for himself, his heirs, and successors, renounces all claim to the said 
territories forever." 

(4-) 

Convention between the United States and Russia, signed at Saint Peters- 
burgh on the -/ T of April, 1824. 

■" Art. 1. It is agreed that, in any part of the great ocean, commonly 
called the Pacific Ocean, or South Sea, the respective citizens or subjects 
of the high contracting Powers shall be neither disturbed nor restrained, 
either in navigation or in fishing, or in the power of resorting to the coasts, 
upon points which may not already have been occupied, for the purpose 
of trading with the natives ; saving always the restrictions and conditions 
determined by the following articles : 

" Art. 2. With the view of preventing the rights of navigation and of 
fishing, exercised upon the great ocean by the citizens and subjects of the 
high contracting Powers, from becoming the pretext for an illicit trade, it 
is agreed that the citizens of the United States shall not resort to any point 
where there is a Russian establishment, without the permission of the 
governor or commander; and that, reciprocally, the subjects of Russia 
shall not resort, without permission, to any establishment of the United 
States upon the northwest coast. 

"Art. 3. It is, moreover, agreed that, hereafter, there shall not be formed 
by the citizens of the United States, or under the authority of the said 
States, any establishment upon the northwest coast of America, nor in any 
of the islands adjacent, to the north of 54 degrees and 40 minutes of north 
latitude ; and that, in the same manner, there shall be none formed by Rus- 
sian subjects, or under the authority of Russia, south of the same parallel, 

"Art. 4. It is, nevertheless, understood, that during a term of ten years. 



[ 174] 



counting from the signature of the present convention, the ships of both 
Powers, or which belong to their citizens or subjects, respectively, may 
reciprocally frequent, without any hindrance whatever, the interior seas, 
gulfs, harbors, and creeks, upon the coast mentioned in the preceding arti- 
cle, for the purpose of fishing and trading with the natives of the country. 

" Art. 5. All spirituous liquors, fire-arms, other arms, powder, and mu- 
nitions of war of every kind, are always excepted from this same com- 
merce permitted by the preceding article ; and the two Powers engage, 
reciprocally, neither to sell, nor suffer them to be sold to the natives, by 
their respective citizens and subjects, nor by any person who may be under 
their authority. It is likewise stipulated, that this restriction shall never 
afford a pretext, nor be advanced, in any case, to authorize either search 
or detention of the vessels, seizure of the merchandise, or, in fine, any 
measures of constraint whatever, towards the merchants or the crews who 
may carry on this commerce ; the high contracting Powers reciprocally 
reserving to themselves to determine upon the penalties to be incurred, 
and to inflict the punishments in case of the contravention of this article 
by their respective citizens or subjects." 

(5.) 

Convention between Great Britain and Russia, signed at Saint Petersburgh^ 

February 1825. 

" Art. 1. It is agreed that the respective subjects of the high contract- 
ing parties shall not be troubled or molested in any part of the ocean, com- 
monly called the Pacific Ocean, either in navigating the same, in fishing 
therein, or in landing at such parts of the coast as shall not have been 
already occupied, in order to trade with the natives, under the restrictions 
and conditions specified in the following articles : 

" Art. 2. In order to prevent the right of navigating and fishing, exer- 
cised upon the ocean by the subjects of the high contracting parties, from 
becoming the pretext for an illicit commerce, it is agreed that the subjects 
of his Britannic Majesty shall not land at any place where there may be a 
Russian establishment, without the permission of the governor or com- 
mandant; and, on the other hand, that Russian subjects shall not land, 
without permission, at any British establishment on the northwest coast. 

" Art. 3. The line of demarcation between the possessions of the high 
contracting parties, upon the coast of the continent, and the islands of 
America to the northwest, shall be drawn in the manner following: Com- 
mencing from the southernmost point of theasland called Prince of Wales 
Island, which point lies in the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes north 
latitude, and between the 131st and the 133d degree of west longitude, 
(meridian of Greenwich,) the said line shall ascend to the north along the 
channel called Portland Channel, as far as the point of the continent 
where it strikes the 56th degree of north latitude. From this last men- 
tioned point, the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of the moun- 
tains situated parallel to the coast, as far as the point of intersection of the 
141st degree of west longitude, (of the same meridian.) And, finally, from 
the said point of intersection, the said meridian line of the 141st degree, in 
its prolongation as far as the Frozen Ocean, shall form the limit between 
the Russian and British possessions on the continent of America to the 
northwest. 



[174] 



£22 



"Art. 4. With reference to the line of demarcation laid down in the 
preceding article, it is understood — 

" 1st. That the island called Prince of Wales Island shall belong wholly 
to Russia. 

" 2d. That whenever the summit of the mountains which extend in a 
direction parallel to the coast, from the 56th degree of north latitude to the 
point of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude, shall prove to 
be at the distance of more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, the 
limit between the British possessions and the line of coast which is to 
belong to Russia, as above mentioned, shall be formed by a line parallel 
to the windings of the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance 
of ten marine leagues therefrom. 

" Art. 5. It is, moreover, agreed that no establishment shall be formed 
by either of the two parties within the limits assigned by the two prece- 
ding articles to the possessions of the other ; consequently, British sub- 
jects shall not form any establishment either upon the coast, or upon the 
border of the continent comprised within the limits of the Russian posses- 
sions, as designated in the two preceding articles; and, in like manner, no 
establishment shall be formed by Russian subjects beyond the said limits. 

" Art. 6. It is understood that the subjects of his Britannic Majesty, 
from whatever quarter they may arrive, whether from the ocean, or from 
the interior of the continent, shall forever enjoy the right of navigating 
freely, and without any hindrance whatever, all the rivers and streams 
which, in their course towards the Pacific Ocean, may cross the line of 
demarcation upon the line of coast described in article 3 of the present 
convention. 

" Art. 7. It is also understood, that, for the space of ten years from the 
signature of the present convention, the vessels of the two Powers, or 
those belonging to their respective subjects, shall mutually be at liberty 
to frequent, without any hindrance whatever, all the inland seas, the gulfs, 
havens, and creeks on the coast, mentioned in article 3, for the purposes 
of fishing and of trading with the natives. 

" Art. 8. The port of Sitka, or Novo Archangelsk, shall be open to the 
commerce and vessels of British subjects for the space of ten years from 
the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention. In 
the event of an extension of this term of ten years being granted to any 
other Power, the like extension shall be granted also to Great Britain. 

" Art. 9. The above mentioned liberty of commerce shall not apply to 
the trade in spirituous liquors, in fire-arms, or other arms, gunpowder, or 
other warlike stores ; the high contracting parties reciprocally engaging 
not to permit the abovementioned articles to be sold or delivered, in any 
manner whatever, to the natives of the country. 

"Art. 10. Every British or Russian vessel navigating the Pacific Ocean, 
which may be compelled by storms or by accident to take shelter in the 
ports of the respective parties, shall be at liberty to refit therein, to provide 
itself with all necessary stores, and to put to sea again, without paying 
any other than port and light-house dues, which shall be the same as 
those paid by national vessels. In case, however, the master of such ves- 
sel should be under the necessity of disposing of a part of his merchandise 
in order to defray his expenses, he shall conform himself to the regula- 
tions and tariffs of the place where he may have landed. 

"Art. 11. In every case of complaint on account of an infraction of the 



223 



[ 174] 



articles of the present convention, the civil and military authorities of the 
high contracting parties, without previously acting, or taking any forcible 
measure, shall make an exact and circumstantial report of the matter to 
their respective courts, who engage to settle the same in a friendly man- 
ner, and according to the principles of justice." 

(6.) 

Convention between the United States and Great Britain, signed at London, 

August 6, 1827. 

"Art. 1. All the provisions of the third article of the convention con- 
cluded between the United States of America and his Majesty the King 
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on the 20th of Octo- 
ber, 1818, shall be, and they are hereby, further indefinitely extended and 
continued in force, in the same manner as if all the provisions of the said 
article were herein specifically recited. 

" Art. 2. It shall be competent, however, to either of the contracting par- 
ties, in case either should think fit, at any time after the 20th of October, 
1828, on giving due notice of twelve months to the other contracting party, 
to annul and abrogate this convention; and it shall, in such case, be ac- 
cordingly entirely annulled and abrogated, after the expiration of the said 
term of notice. 

" Art. 3. Nothing contained in this convention, or in the third article 
of the convention of the 20th October, 1818, hereby continued in force, 
shall be construed to impair, or in any manner affect, the claims which 
either of the contracting parties may have to any part of the country west- 
ward of the Stony or Rocky Mountains." 



* 



til 



INDEX. 



Page. 

A. 

Adams's, J. &., correspondence with the 
Russian Government 
respecting American 
fur-traders in the north 
Pacific - - 147 
correspondence with the 
Russian Minister at 
Washington, respect- 
ing the ukase of 1821 181 
Aguilar's voyage - - 45 
Alarcon's voyage in search of Cibola - 29 
Aleutian Islands - - - - 5, 65 
Aliaska ----- 4 
Arteaga's voyage - - 84 
Ashley's trading expeditions from Mis- 
souri to the Far West - - 194 
Astoria founded - 157 
taken by the British - - 161 
restored to the Americans - 165 

B. 

Balboa discovers the Pacific - - 22 

Baranoff, Governor of Russian- America 145 

founds New Archangel - 145 
establishes a Russian colony in 

California - - - 148 
attempts to take possession of 

one of the Sandwich Islands 149 

Becerra discovers California - 24 

Beering's first voyage - - - 59 

second voyage - - 60 

third and last voyage - 61 
death - - - =63 
Benyowsky's voyage from Kamschatka 

to China - - - - 67 

Berkely re- discovers the Strait of Fuca 91 
Billing's voyage - - 89, 122 

Blue Mountains - - - - 16 

Bodega and Maurelle's first voyage - 71 

second voyage - 84 
Broughton surveys the lower part of the 

Columbia River - - 136 
sent to receive possession of 

Nootka - - - 141 

Bulfinch's Harbor discovered by Gray - 126 

surveyed by Whidbey 135 

C. 

Caamano's voyage - 122 
Cabeza Vaca's journey from Florida to 

the Pacific - . - - 27 
Cabnllo's voyage - = -31 



Page> 

California described » - 9 

discovered - - 24 
unsuccessful attempts of the 

Spaniards to settle in it - 48 

occupied by the Jesuits - 49 
first colonies on its western 



side - - 53 

Carver's journey - - 76 

Cavendish's voyage - - - 38 

Cermenon's voyage - - 34 

Cibola, fabulous account of - 28 

Clarke and Lewis, expedition of - 152 

Colnett's voyage - 106 

Columbia River described - - 18 



its mouth first discov- 
ered by Heceta - 72 
sought for in vain by 

Meares - 93 
sought for in vain by 

Vancouver - - 124 
first entered by Gray - 126 
survey of the lower part 

by Broughton - 136 
examined by Lewis and 

Clarke - - 152 
first settlement on it by 
Heniy - - 156 
Convention of 1790, between Great Brit- 
ain and Spain - 114, 171 
of 1818, between the United 
States and Great Brit- 
ain - - - 169,219 
of 1824, between Russia and 

the United States - 180, 220 
of 1825, between Russia and 

Great Britain - 181, 221 
of 1827, between Great 
Britain and the United 
States - - 185,223 
Cook's last voyage - - 78 
death - - - - 82 
Coronado's expedition in search of Cib- 
ola 29 

Cortereal discovers the Strait of Anian 39 
Cortes conquers Mexico - 23 

expeditions of, on the Pacific - 24 

D. 

Dixon's voyage - - - 87 
Douglas's voyage - 101 
Drake's voyage 35, 201 

Duflm's evidence respecting the events 
at Nootka in 1769 - - 108,133 



[174 J 



226 



Page. 

F. 

Falkland Islands, dispute between Great 

Britain and Spain respecting the - 54 
Fidalgo's voyage - - - - 118 
Fleuneu's Introduction to Marchand's 

Journal 71, 119 

Florida explored by Narvaez - 27 
by Soto - - 31 

Florida treaty - - - 170,219 
Fonte, fabulous account of his voyage 4 J 
Forsyth's, John, instructions to the Amer- 
ican minister at Saint Petersburgh, re- 
specting the renewal of the fourth ar- 
ticle of the con ven lion of 1824 - 189 
Forts Vancouver, Okanagan, and Col- 

ville - - - - - 20 
Fuca's voyage 42, 207 

Fur trade, Russian - - 58, 64, 144 
British - - 84, 87, 192 
American - 89, 143, 156, 194 

G. 

Gali's voyage - - - 33 
Galiano and Valdes, voyage of - 122, 130 
journal of - - 131 
Gallatin's negotiations at London in 

1826 183 

Gray's first voyage - - 89 
second voyage - 129 
Gray discovers BuJfinch's Harbor - 125 
enters the Columbia River - 126 

and Ingraham's letter toduadra 132, 210 

H. 

Harmon's Journal - 155 
Hearne's journeys - - 75 
Heceta's voyage - - - - 71 
Heceta discovers the mouth of the Co- 
lumbia - - - - 72 
Howell's account of the negotiation be- 
tween Vancouver and duadra at 

Nootka 134 

Hudson's Bay discovered - 47 

Hudson's Bay Company established - 75 
Hudson's Bay Company united with the 

Northwest Company - 175 
Hudson's Bay Company, particular ac- 
count of its system - 192 
Humboldt's accounts of the northwest 
coast nearly all derived from Navar- 
rete - - - - - 34 
Hunt — see Astoria. 

I. 

Ingraham's voyage ... 120 
Journal, extract from - 134 
Ingraham and Gray, letter from, to 
Gluadra - - - 132,210 

J. 

Jesuits establish themselves in California 48 
are expelled from California - 50 
Jesup's, General T. S., plan for occupy- 
ing the Columbia - - - 178 



Page. 

Jewitt's account of his captivity at Nootka 142 
K. 

Kamschatka described - - 5 
conquered by the Russians 58 
Kendrick's voyage - - - 89 
Kendiick purchases land from the In- 
dians at Nooika - - 121 
commences the trade in san- 
dal wood between the Sand- 
wich Islands and China - 122 
Kodiak described - - 6, 65 
Krenitzen and Levashef's voyage - 66 
Krusenstern and Lisiansky's voyages - 147 

L. 

Ledyard's attempt to proceed from Paris, 
through Russia and America, to the 
United Slates - - - - 140 
Levashef and Krenitzin's voyage - 66 
Lewis or Snake River described - 19 

Lewis and Clarke's expedition from the 
United btates to the mouth of the Co- 
lumbia in 1805-6 - 152 
Louisiana, supposed extent of, in the north 

and we-t ... 149 
not limited on the north by the 
49th paraliel, agreeahy to 
the treaty of Utrecht, as gen- 
erally supposed - 150, 216 

M. 

Mackenzie's journeys - - - 139 
Magellan's voyage - - 22 
Malaspina's voyage ... H8 
Maldonado's pretended voyage - 40, 205 
Maquinna, king of Nootka 90, 101, 132, 142 
Marchand's voyage - - - 119 
observations of no value - 119 
Marcos de Niza's fabulous account of 

Cibola - - « - - 28 
Martinez, first voyage of - 96 

occupies Nootka - - 104 
seizes two Portuguese vessels 105 
seizes two English vessels - 107 
abandons Nootka - - 110 
Maurelle's journal of his first voyage in 

the north Pacific - - 71 
journal of his second voyage 85 
McDougal — see Astoria. 
Meares's voyage from Macao to Nootka 100 
Meares attempis to penetrate the Sirait of 

Fuca - - - - 92 
attempts to find the mouth of the 
great river, now called the Co- 
lumbia- - - - 93 
it is pretended by the British, dis- 
covered the River Columbia - 129 
falsehood of many of his state- 
ments proved - 100 
Mendoza's voyage - - - 24 
Monroe's, President, declaration that the 
American continents are not to be con- 
sidered as subjects for colonization by 
European Powers - 178 



227 



[174] 



Page. 

Monterey settled by the Spaniards - 53 
Multonomah or Wallamet River 20, 198 

N. 

Navarrete's Introduction te the Journal 

of the Sutil and Mexicana - - 131 
Nootka Sound described - - 8, 90 

discovered by Perez - 70 
visited by Cook - - -80 

great resort of the fur-traders - 70 

occupied by the Spaniards - 104 

claimed by the British - - 117 

abandoned by the Spaniards - 110 

re-occupied by the Spaniards - 118 

finally abanduned - - 141 
Northwest Fur trading Company, of 

Montreal, established - - - 139 
Northwest Fur trading Company's first 
establishment west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains 155 
Northwest Fur-trading Company united 
with the Hudson's Bay Company - 175 

O. 

Oregon, River of, as described by Carver, 

does not exist - - - 77 
name of, probably invented by 

Carver - - - 77 
name of, should be retained - 128 
territory described - - 12 
Owyhee ceded by its sovereign to Van- 
couver, for Great Britain - - 138 

P. 

Perez, voyage of - - - - 69 

discovers Nootka Sound - 70 

Perouse, voyage of - - - 87 
Philippine Islands conquered by the 

Spaniards - - - - 32 

Portlock's voyage - - 91 

Promuschleniks - - - - 146 

a. 

Quadra, Spanish commissioner at Nootka 132 
Queen Charlotte's, or Washington's Isl- 
and • - - - - 7, 123 

R. 

Rocky Mountains described - 11 
Rod nun's journey across the continent 

from th<- Missouri to the Pacific - 140 

Rush's negotiations at London in 1818 - 164 

in 1824 - 179 

Russian discoveries in America - 58 

Russian American Company established 145 
Russian American Company's system, 
account of the - - - - 146 

S. 

San Diego described - - 9 

settled by the Spaniards - 53 

San Francisco Bay described - 9 



Page. 

Sandwich Islands discovered by Cook - 82 
described - - 198 
Shellikof makes the first Russian settle- 
ments on the American continent - 88 
Sitca described - - - - 141 
founded - 145 
Snake or Lewis Itiver described - 19 
Strait of Fuca described - 8 
discovered - - 42 
re-discovered by Berkely 91 
entered by Gray - - 92 
completely explored by 
Vancouver ani Gali- 
ano and Valdes - 130 
Strait of Anian, supposed to be Hudson's 

Strait, discovered by Cortereal - 39 
Sutil and Mexicana, voyage of the 122, 130 

T. 

Tamahamaha, king of the Sandwich Isl- 
ands, cedes Owyhee to Great Britain - 138 
Treatv of Partition between Spain and 

Portugal - - - 21 
of Utrecht between Great Britain 

and France - - - 150 
Florida, between the United 
States and Spain - 170, 219 
Tschirikof discovers the American con- 
tinent - - - - - 63 

U. 

Ukase of the Russian Emperor, issued in 
1821, prohibiting foreigners from tra- 
ding in the north Pacific - - 176 

Ulloa's voyage, in which he discovers the 
west co;tst of California - 26 

Unalashka described - > - 5 

United States vessels first visit the north 
Pacific - - - - - 89 

United States treaties, respecting the 
northwest coasts: with Great Britain 169, 
185, 219, 223 
with Spain 170, 219 
with Russia 1 80, 220 

Urdaneta discovers the mode of navi- 
gating the Pacific from east to west - 32 

V. 

Vancouver sails to the Pacific - - 117 
explores the coast from Cape 

Mendocino to the Strait of 

Fuca - - - 123 
meets Gray, who informs him 

of the discovery of the great 

river - 124 
surveys the Strait of Fuca - 130 
negotiations of, with Quadra, 

at Nootka - - - 132 
orders Broughton to examine 

the Columbia River - 135 
attempts to rob Gray of the 136 

merit of his discoveries - 136 
his animosity against the 

Americans - 133, 139 

his other discoveries - 136 

his death « - - 139 



[174] 



2 : 



Page. 

Vancouver, great value of the journals 
and charts of - - - - 139 

Vizcaino's voyage, and survey of the 
west coast of California - 46 



Wallamet, or Multonomah River, Amer- 
can settlement 20, 198 

Washington's, or Queen Charlotte's 
Island, first circumnavigated by Gray 92 

Washington Isles, in the South Pacific, 
first discovered by Ingraham - - 120 



Page. 

Whidbey surveys Bulfinch's Harbor - 135 
Wiccanish, king of Nittinat - - 91 
seizes the American ship 
Tonquin, and murders the 
~ crew - 15f 

yeth's attempt to form an American 
trading settlement on the Columbia - 12( 

Y. 

Youta Lake - - . - ] 



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